THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE 


¥ORKS 


OF 


THE   RIGHT   IlEYEREXD 

JOHN  STARK  RAVENSCROFT,  D.  D., 


BISHOP    OF    THE    TROTESTAXT    EPISCOPAI-    CHURCH    IN    THE 
DIOCESE    OF   NORTH    CAROLINA, 


CONTAINING   HIS 


SERMONS  AND  CHARGES, 


DBVISKD    BY    TilR    AUTHOR    TO   THE    AID   OP   THG    MISSIONARY    CAUSK    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA; 


TO   WHICH   IS  PREFIXED 


A  MEMOIR  OF  HIS  LIFE. 


SECOND    EDITION. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 

VOL.   I. 


PAYETTEVILLE,    N.   C: 

PRINTED  BY  EDWARD  J.  HALE  &  SON. 

1856. 


5937 

V.  i 


The  first  Edition  of  the  "Works  of  Bishop  Kavenscroft 
having  been  long  since  exhausted,  the  Diocese  of  North  Ca- 
rolina, prompted  by  a  bequest  of  five  hundred  dollars  made 
by  the  late  J.  W.  "Wright  in  aid  of  this  purpose,  now  pre- 
sents this  second  Edition  to  the  public.  The  present  Edition 
contains  the  Sermons  and  Charges  of  the  Bishop,  with  the 
interesting  Memoir  of  his  life,  prefixed;  being  substantially 
the  same  as  the  first  Edition,' — -the  Controversial  Tract  in  re- 
ply to  Dr.  Bice  being  omitted,  because  it  was  not  deemed 
convenient  or  necessary  to  republish  it  at  the  present  time. 

The  matter  here  presented,  having  undergone  a  thorough 
revision  by  a  Committee  of  the  Convention,  and  the  very  nu- 
merous typographical  errors  of  the  first  Edition  having  been 
corrected,  it  is  hoped  that  the  present  Edition  will  in  this  re- 
spect be  found  to  be  an  improvement  upon  the  former. 

The  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  this  Edition,  as  were  those  of 
the  former,  are  devoted,  agreeably  to  the  design  of  Mr. 
"Wright,  to  the  support  of  the  Missions  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  within  the  Diocese  of  North  Carolina. 

April,  1856. 


v'" 


^NSCROFT.  John  Stark,  P.  E.  bishop, 
t\  "X*  y^dr  Blandford.  Prince  George  co.,  Va.,  in  1772; 
'V;  in  Williamsborough.  X.  C,  5  March,  1830.  His 
father  and  family  removed  to  Scotland  soon  after 
the  boy's  birth,  and  John  was  sent  to  school  in  the 
north  of  England.  In  January,  1789,  he  returned 
to  Virginia  on  family  affairs,  and,  having  a  de- 
sire to  study  law,  he  entered  William  and  Mary, 
with  this  object ;  but  he  never  accomplished  it. 
In  1792  he  went  to  Scotland  again,  settled  his  fa- 
ther's estate,  and, 
on  coming  back  to 
Virginia,  surren- 
dered himself  to  a 
country  life  in 
Lunenburg  coun- 
ty, regardless  of 
religion  and  relig- 
ious obligations. 
In  1810  he  united 
with  a  body  of  pro- 
fessing Christians, 
called  '•  Republi- . 
can  Methodists," 
but  the  connection 
did  not  last  long. 
In  1815  he  became 
a  candidate  for  or- 
ders in  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal 
church,  and  he  was 
licensed  as  a  lay  reader  in  February,  1816.  So  ac- 
ceptable were  his  services  that  St.  James's  church, 
Mecklenburg  county,  chose  him  for  its  rector  before 
he  was  admitted  into  the  ministry.  He  was  ordained 
deacon  in  the  Monumental  church,  Richmond,  Va., 
25  April,  1817,  by  Bishop  Richard  C.  Moore,  and 
priest  in  St.  George's  church,  Fredericksburg,  6 
May,  1817,  by  the  same  bishop.  He  received  the 
degree  of  D.  D.  from  Columbia  in  1823.  This  same 
year  he  was  called  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  but  declined ; 
and  also  was  invited  to  become  assistant  to  Bishop 
Moore,  in  the  Monumental  church,  Richmond.  At 
this  time  he  was  elected  first  bishop  of  North  Caxo- 
lina,  and  was  consecrated  in  St.  Paul's  church, 
Philadelphia,  22  May,  1823.  William  and  Mary 
also  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  D.  I),  in 
1823.  In  order  to  supplement  his  salary,  he  as- 
sumed the  rectorship  of  Christ  church,  Raleigh, 
which  he  held  for  five  years,  during  which  time  his 
health  failed.  He  attended  the  general  convention 
in  Philadelphia  in  August,  1829,  but.  on  his  re- 
turn home,  gradually  sank  until  his  death.  Bishop 
Ravenscroft  published  numerous  sermons  that 
he  preached  on  special  occasions,  and  episcopal 
charges.  After  his  decease  these  were  republished, 
together  with  61  sermons,  selected  by  himself,  and 
a  memoir  of  his  life,  edited  bv  Di-.  (afterward  Bishop) 
Wainwright  (2  vols..  New  York.  1830). 


.  v'  ^^Ce^ij^c-^cyi^'t 


J*^f 


CONTENTS  OF   VOL.  I. 


PAG*. 

Memoir, 1 

A  Farewell  Discourse;   preached  in  St.  James's  Church,  Mecklenburg 
County,  Virginia, 69 

A  Sermon  on  the  Church;    delivered  before  the  Annual  Convention  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  North  Carolina, 91 

A  Sermon  on  the  Christian  Ministry;  delivered  in  St.  Peter's  Church, 
Washington,  N.  C,  at  an  ordination, 113 

Eevelation  the  Foundation  of  Faith;   a  Sermon  preached  in  St.  Luke's 
Church,  Salisbury,  N.  C,  at  an  ordination, 135 

A  Sermon  preached  before  the  Bible  Society  of  North  Carolina, 151 

A  Sermon  on  the  Study  and  Interpretation  of  the  Scriptures;  delivered 
in  the  Episcopal  Chapel,  Raleigh, 167 

A  Sermon  preached  at  the  consecration  of  Christ  Church,  Raleigh,  N. 
C, 181 

An  Episcopal  Charge,  delivered  to  the  Convention  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  assembled  in  Washington,  N.  C,  in  April  1825,...  197 

An  Episcopal  Charge,  delivered  to  the  Convention  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  assembled  in  Hillsborough,  N.  C,  in  May  1826,...  207 

An  Episcopal  Charge,  delivered  to  the  Convention  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  assembled  in  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  in  May  1828,....  215 

SERMONS   ON  VARIOUS    SUBJECTS. 

SERMON  I. 

BAPTISM. 

John  iii.  5. — Jesus  answered.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a 
man  be  born  of  water,  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God 239 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAQE. 

SERMON   11. 
confir:mation.  ■ 
Acts  xv.  41. — And  he  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the 
churches 257 

SERMON  III. 

NATUKE   AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   HOLT   COMMUNION. 
Luke  xxii.  19,  last  clause. — This  do,  in  remembrance  of  me 271 

SERMON  lY. 

THE   OBLIGATION   TO    PARTAKE    OF   THE   LOKd's    SUPPEE. 
1  Corinthians  xi.  26. — For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink 

this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come 285 

SERMON  Y. 

COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS. 
1  Corinthians  x.  17. — For  we  being  many,  are  one  bread,  and  one 

body;  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread 297 

SERMON  YI. 

UNITY    OF   THE    CHUKCH. 
Ephesians  iv.  4. — There  is  one  body 309 

SERMON  YII. 

CHRISTMAS. 
Matthew  xi.  28. — Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour,  and  are  heavy  la- 
den, and  I  will  give  you  rest 327 

SERMON  YIIL  • 

new-year's  day. 

Psalm  xxxi.  15,  frsi  clause. — My  times  are  in  thy  hand 341 

SERMON  IX. 

new-year's  day. 

Hebrews  i.  12,  last  clause. — But  thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall 
not  fail 855 

SERMON   X. 

ASCENSION   OF   CHRIST. 
John  vi.  02. — What  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  up, 

where  he  was  before? * ►  867 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

PAOB. 

SEHMOIs"  XL 

TRINITY   SUNDAY. 
1  Timothy  iii.  16. — And  without  controversy,  great  is  the  mystery  of 
godliness;   God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit, 
seen  of  angels,  preached  unto   the   Gentiles,   believed  on  in   the 
world,  received  up  into  glory 877 

SERMOIT  XII. 

ORDINATION,    OR    INSTITUTION. 

1  Thessalonians  v.  26. — Brethren,  pray  for  us 389 

SERMON  XIIL 

ORDINATION   SERMON. 

2  CoKiNTHiANS  iv.  5. — For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus 

the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  servants,  for  Jesus'  sake 401 

SEEMON  XIY. 

CONSECRATION. 
Psalm  xciii.  5,  last  clause. — Holiness  becometh  thine  house,  0  Lord,  for 


415 


SERMON  XY. 

THE  OLD  paths: — A  CONSECRATION  SERMON*,  PREACHED 
IN   VIRGINIA   AND   NORTH   CAROLINA. 

J«HEMiAH  vi.  16. — Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Stand  ye  in  the  ways,  and  see, 
and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  there- 
in, and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls 427 

SERMON  XVI. 

THE   REASONABLENESS   OF  RELIGION. 

1  KiNQS  xviii.  21. — And  Elijah  came  unto  all  the  people,  and  said, 
How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions?  If  the  Lord  be  God,  fol- 
low him;  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him 443 

SERMON  XVII. 

THE   NECESSITY   OF  EXERCISING  A   RIGHT  JUDGMENT   IN 
OUR   RELIGIOUS   CONCERNS. 

Luke  xii.  57. — Yea,  and  why,  even  of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is 
right? ■...  457 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

PAGK. 

SERMON  XVIII. 

THE   FOLLY   AND   WICKEDNESS   OF  EXCUSES   AGAINST 

RELIGION. 

LujcB  xiv.  18. — Aud  they  all,  with  one  consent,  began  to  make  excuse.  469 

SERMOISr  XIX. 

god's   ANGER   AGAINST   THE   WICKED. 
Psalm  vii.  11. — God  is  angry  ■with  the  ■wicked  every  day 481 


MEMOIR. 


John  Stakk  Ravensceoft,  D.  D.,  late  Bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese of  ISTorth  Carolina,  was  born  in  the  year  1772,  at  an  es- 
tate near  Blandford,  in  the  county  of  Prince  George,  Virginia, 
which  had  long  been  in  the  possession  of  his  family.  He  was 
the  only  child  of  Dr.  John  Raveuscroft,  a  gentleman  of  for- 
tune, who  had  been  educated  for  the  practice  of  medicine. 

Dr.  Ravenscroft's  ample  possessions  and  small  family  soon 
induced  him  to  relinquish  the  practice  of  his  laborious  pro- 
fession, and  within  two  months  after  the  birth  of  his  son,  he 
removed  to  Great  Britain,  where  he  ultimately  purchased  a 
small  landed  estate  in  the  south  of  Scotland,  to  the  improve- 
nient  of  which  he  devoted  the  rest  of  his  life. 

The  mother  of  the  subject  of  our  memoir,  was  the  daugli- 
ter  of  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  a  Scotch  gentleman  who  resided  in 
the  same  county,  and  botli  she  and  her  husband,  Dr.  Ravens- 
croft,  were  descended  maternally  from  the  extensive  and  re- 
spectable family  of  the  Boilings. 

It  is  not  known,  certainly,  what  were  the  chief  induce- 
ments with  Dr.  Raveuscroft  to  remove  to  Europe,  Though 
of  Scotch  descent  and  married  into  a  Scottish  family,  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  dissensions  between  the  colonies  and 
the  mother  country  had  any  influence  upon  his  determina- 
tion, for  it  will  be  recollected  that,  although  great  excitement 
had  prevailed  in  the  country  for  some  years  previous,  the 
year  1772  and  the  early  part  of  '73  was  a  season  of  remark- 
able tranquility,  and  the  opinion  was  generally  entertained 
that  the  conciliatory  measures  of  the  British  government 
would  ultimately  subdue  the  spirit  of  disaffection  in  her  col- 
onies. Be  that  as  it  may,  however,  it  is  certain  that  he  re- 
garded his  removal  as  final,  having  previously  to  his  dej^art- 
ure  empowered  an  attorney  to  dispose  of  the  whole  of  his 
patrimonial  and  other  property.  The  sale  was  effected,  but 
owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  at  that  period, 


3  MEMOIR. 

and  the  subsequent  very  great  depreciation  in  the  value  of 
the  current  money  of  the  time,  the  doctor  during  his  lifetime 
derived  but  very  little  benefit  from  it,  and  having  in  the 
purchase  that  he  made  in  Scotland,  relied  upon  the  funds 
which  he  expected  from  Virginia,  he  was  in  consequence 
somewhat  embarrassed  during  his  whole  life.  He  notwith- 
standing so  far  arranged  his  afl'airs  before  his  death,  as  to 
leave  his  widow,  wlio  is  still  living,  in  easy  circumstances. 
He  died  about  the  close  of  the  year  1780. 

Mrs.  Ravenscroft  availed  herself  of  the  excellent  opportu- 
nity which  Scotland  afforded,  at  that  time  as  now,  of  giving 
her  son  a  verj'-  complete  and  thorough  classical  education; 
and  after  he  had  finished  his  com-se  at  one  of  the  most  re- 
spectable grammar  schools  in  that  country,  she  placed  him 
at  a  seminary  of  somewhat  liigher  grade  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land, where,  besides  continuing  liis  classical  studies,  he  was 
instructed  in  matliematics,  natural  philosophy,  and  other 
sciences. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Ravenscroft  had  entered  his  seventeenth 
year,  his  friends  thought  it  expedient  that  he  should  return 
to  Virginia,  for  the  purpose  of  looking  after  tlie  remains  of 
his  father's  property,  which,  from  causes  already  mentioned, 
still  remained  in  a  very  precarious  condition.  He  accordingly 
left  his  friends  in  Scotland  at  the  beginnipo;  of  the  winter  of 
1788-9,  and  reached  Virginia  in  the  January  following.  He 
was  here  so  far  successful  in  recovering  some  remnants  of 
his  father's  large  property,  as  to  be  subsequently  in  easy,  if 
not  afiluent  circumstances.  Intending  to  devote  himself  to 
the  profession  of  the  law,  he  entered  William  and  Mary  col- 
lege, at  Williamsburg,  in  Virginia,  with  a  view  to  the  prose- 
cution of  that  study,  and  to  the  acquisition  of  a  more  perfect 
acquaintance  with  the  sciences.  Mr.  Wythe  was  at  that  pe- 
riod Professor  of  Law  at  Williamsburg,  and  of  course  the  ad- 
vantages for  students  in  that  department  were  unusually 
great;  but  owing  to  the  extreme  relaxation  of  discipline  in 
the  college,  joined  to  the  large  pecuniary  allowance  made  to 
Mr.  Ravenscroft  by  his  guardian,  and  which  induced  habits 
of  extravagance  and  dissipation,  he  did  not  derive  that  in- 
struction from  the  lectures  of  this  eminent  lawyer  which  his 
friends  might  have  expected.    It  is  not  necessary  here  to 


MEMOIR.  d 

dwell  upon  the  time  wasted,  and  the  evil  courses  pursued,  by 
j\fr.  Ravenscroft  during  this  dangerous  period  of  his  life:  the 
reader  will  find  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  narrative,  the 
candid  account  which  that  most  ingenuous  of  men  himself 
gives  of  it.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  his  convic- 
tion of  sin  was  so  strong  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  and  his 
self-accusations  so  severe  in  respect  to  his  misspent  j'outh, 
that  the  picture  which  he  has  drawn  of  it,  is,  probably, 
too  highly  colored  to  convey  a  just  idea  of  his  character  and 
conduct.  Those  who  knew  him  at  this  and  at  a  somewhat 
later  period  of  life,  are  not  aware  of  his  addiction  to  any  vi- 
ces, in  i\iQ, ]jGj)xdar  sense  of  that  term,  except  profane  swear- 
ing and  a  general  contempt  for  religion.  It  is  true  that  these 
vices  go  veiy  far  towards  making  a  depraved  character,  but 
some  palliation  may  be  found  fur  them,  in  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances in  which  Mr.  Ravenscroft  v>-as  placed.  Separated 
by  an  ocean  from  his  family — supplied  by  a  too  indulgent 
guardian  with  almost  unlimited  means  of  gratifying  his  in- 
clination— and  placed  at  the  earl}-  age  of  seventeen  at  a  sem- 
inary notorious  at  that  period  for  its  total  want  of  discipline, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  he  should  have  indulged  in 
excesses  and  contracted  habits,  which,  in  after  years,  ap- 
peared to  his  self-abhorring  spirit  to  be  of  the  most  vicious 
kind.  ,  At  the  same  time,  it  is  very  certain  that  those  habits 
and  excesses  were  not  of  that  nature,  which  is  usually  thought 
to  be  degrading  to  the  youthful  character. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  however,  his  studies  did 
not  result  in  any  very  considerable  acquaintance  with  the 
principles  of  the  profession  to  which  he  had  proposed  devot- 
ing his  chief  attention,  and  though  he  remained  for  some 
time  a  member  of  the  college,  with  the  ostensible  object  of 
preparing  himself  for  the  practice  of  law,  it  does  not  appear 
that  he  ever  procured  a  license  to  practice,  or  if  he  did  it  is 
certain  that  he  never  availed  himself  of  it.  Before  Mr.  Ra- 
venscroft left  Williamsburg,  an  event  took  place  which  seems 
to  have  been,  in  the  hand  of  God,  the  means  of  arresting  him 
in  that  career  of  youthful  dissipation,  which,  as  he  advanced 
towards  manhood,  was  assuming  the  more  alarming  charac- 
ter of  habitual  vice.  He  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the 
lady  who  afterwards  became  his  wife,  and  whose  lovely  cha- 


4  MEilOIK. 

racter  appears  from  that  time  to  have  exerted  an  influence 
over  his  wayward  disposition,  sufficiently  powerful  to  coun- 
teract the  adverse  influence  of  his  former  bad  habits  and 
want  of  religious  principle,  and  to  make  him  the  estimable- 
and  respectable  man  he  afterwards  became,  till  the  more 
powerful  operations  of  God's  grace  brought  him  to  the  foot 
of  the  cross. 

This  lady  was  the  daughter  of  Lewis  Burweli^  Esq.  of 
Mecklenburg  County,  and  was  on  a  visit  to  her  friends  in 
Williamsburg,  at  the  time  of  her  first  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Ravenscroft.  She  is  represented  as  having  been  remarkable 
for  her  personal  beauty,  and  for  what  was  of  far  greater 
value,  especially  in  the  particular  station  assigned  her  by 
Providence,  a  gentleness  of  disposition  peculiarly  adapted  to 
a  collision  with  the  ardent  temperament  of  her  husband,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  firmness  of  character,  and  correctness  of 
principle,  which,  while  it  enabled  her  to  mould  his  less  es- 
tablished character,  jjreserved  her  from  the  contagion  of  his 
evil  example. 

About  the  year  1792,  Mr.  Ravenscroft  re-visited  Scotland 
for  the  last  time,  with  the  view  of  converting  the  property 
which  he  had  inherited  from  his  father  in  that  country,  into 
money,  preparatory  to  his  final  establishment  in  Virginia, 
This  addition  to  his  already  competent  estate  rendered  his  sit- 
uation such  as  justified  him  in  marrying,  notwithstanding  that 
he  had  now  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  prosecuting  the  pro- 
fession of  law.  Accordingly,  soon  after  his  return  from  Scot- 
land, and  a  short  time  previous  to  his  coming  of  age,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Burwell.  ISTot  having  purchased  any  property 
prior  to  his  marriage,  and  having  no  near  relations  residing 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  birth-place,  to  make  it  a  desirable  resi- 
dence for  himself,  he  was  easily  indueed  to  yield  to  the  wishes 
of  his  wife  in  purchasing  an  estate  in  the  more  healthy  dis- 
trict of  country  where  his  father-in-law  lived.  He  settled  in 
Lunenburgh  County,  not  far  from  Mr.  Burwell,  and  hence- 
forward devoted  himself  to  the  usual  pursuits  of  a  country 
life,  until  it  pleased  God  to  call  him  to  be  a  laborer  in  his 
vineyard.  During  a  period  of  eighteen  years,  Mr.  Ravens- 
croft here  continued  to  sustain  his  several  relations  towards 
his  family  and  neighbors,  in  ^  manner  that  gave  hun  a  high 


MEMOIR. 


and  honorable  reputation  among  men.  The  remark  already 
made,  respecting  the  hateful  terms  in  which  he  was  wont  in 
after  years  to  refer  to  this  wasted  period  of  life — wasted  as  to 
the  chief  2yurpose  of  life,  may  here  be  repeated,  and  the  im- 
pression very  generally  entertained,  in  consecjuenee,  respect- 
ing his  character  and  conduct  at  this  time,  be  corrected.  As 
ft  husband,  a  master,  a  member  of  society — a  husband  to  the 
widow,  and  in  a  peculiar  sense,  a  father  to  the  orphan,  Mr. 
Ravenscroft  was  every  thing  that  was  estimable;  and  the 
absurd  stories  of  his  fondness  for  gaming  and  other  low  vices, 
are  utterly  groundless.  It  is  true  that  his  good  qualities  were 
all  obscured  by  a  more  than  ordinary  neglect,  and  perhaps 
contempt,  of  religious  obligations.  And  it  is  this  that  led 
him  when  his  eyes  became  open,  to  loathe  himself  to  the  de- 
gree which  was  so  remarkable  a  trait  of  his  religious  charac- 
ter. But,  doubtless,  many  a  mere  moralist  has  built  his 
claims  for  acceptance  with  his  God  upon  a  foundation  more 
slender  than  the  morality  which  Mr.  Ravenscroft  practised 
for  years,  though  without  any  reference  to  his  accountability. 

Mr.  Ravenscroft  was  never  blessed  with  children  of  his 
own,  but  towards  five  orphan  children,  who  were  placed  un- 
der his  care  while  infants,  he  for  many  years  .discharged  the 
duties  of  an  affectionate  and  conscientious  parent.  The  sur- 
vivors of  these  objects  of  his  parental  affection  bear  testimo- 
ny, in  the  warmest  terms,  to  the  undeviating  kindness  and 
judicious  care  which  marked  the  conduct  of  their  adopted 
father  towards  them,  from  their  earliest  recollection  to  the 
day  of  his  death;  and  the  filial  respect  uniformly  manifested 
on  their  part,  has  afforded  to  all  who  witnessed  it,  a  pleasing 
evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  their  gratitude. 

It  is  not  consistent  with  the  chief  purposes  of  tliis  memoir 
to  dwell  at  much  length  upon  this  portion  of  Mr.  Ravens- 
croft's  life.  That  he  lived  utterly  "without  God  in  the  world," 
he  himself  was  ever  most  ready  to  acknowledge,  and  the  mere 
details  of  an  ordinary  irreligious  life,  passed  in  the  obscurity 
of  the  country,  would  possess  neither  novelty  nor  instruction. 
That  he  did  not  suffer  his  mind  to  languish,  or  his  early  ad- 
vantages to  remain  unimproved,  is  obvious  from  the  large 
fund  of  acquired  information  which  he  carried  MMth  him 
into  the  ministry,  and  those  habits  of  close  and  logical  rea- 


D  MEMOIK. 

soning  whicli  formed  so  striking  a  characteristic  of  bis  pulpit 
oratory.  Although  he  interested  himself  with  his  usual  ardor 
in  the  politics  of  the  day,  and  in  the  various  objects  of  local 
interest  which  successively  presented  themselves,  he  was 
never  induced  to  leave  the  retirement  of  private  life,  or  to 
seek  that  kind  of  popularity  which  seems  almost  the  natural 
food  of  tempers  as  active  as  his.  In  the  bosom  of  his  family, 
and  in  the  diligent  discharge  of  the  numerous  charities  of 
life,  he  sought  and  found  that  happiness  which  this  world  can 
give.  Though  blessed  with  a  wife,  who  seems  to  have  found 
her  own  happiness  in  promoting  his,  with  an  estate  that  was 
equal  to  his  utmost  wishes,  and  with  the  respect  and  affec- 
tion of  a  large  circle  of  friends,  he  yet  experienced  that  truth 
which  enters  so  largely  into  the  experience  of  every  man, 
that  the  happiness  of  this  world  is  empty  and  unsatisfying; 
and  his  well  informed  mind  was  gradually  brought,  though 
after  a  long  night  of  delusion,  to  the  conviction  that  "here 
was  not  his  rest." 

We  are  henceforth  to  consider  the  character  of  Mr.  Ea- 
venscroft  in  a  new  aspect.  So  heartily  and  earnestly  did  he 
co-operate  with  the  grace  of  God,  when  it  had  once  broken 
down  the  vain  opposition  of  his  sinful  and  long  cherished 
lusts,  that  the  change  in  his  views,  his  feelings,  and  his  pur- 
suits, though  far  from  being  instantaneous  or  even  very  ra- 
pid, soon  became  marked  and  decisive.  Some  groundless 
stories  respecting  the  immediate  causes  and  manner  of  his 
conversion,  have  been  related  and  even  published;  and  it  is 
well  for  the  cause  of  truth,  as  also  for  Mr.  Ravenscroft's  own 
reputation,  that  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  commit  to  writing 
during  his  last  confinement,  an  authentic  and  detailed  account 
of  the  rise  and  progress  in  his  heart  of  that  great  change  by 
which  "he  put  off,  concerning  the  former  conversation,  the 
old  man,"  and  "put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God  is  cre- 
;ated  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness." 

The  stories  referred  to,  very  seriously  implicated  his  private 
and  domestic  character,  and  if  true,  would  have  presented 
him  in  the  odious  light  of  a  persecutor  of  religion  in  the  pev" 
S071S  of  its  professors,  as  well  as  in  it&  principles.  That  there 
was  no  foundation  for  these  stories,  either  in  the  cjiaraptpr  of 


MEMOIR.  i 

Mr.  Ravenscroft,  or  in  any  circumstances  connected  with  his 
conversion,  was  well  known  to  all  who  knew  him,  or  who 
liad  access  to  correct  information  on  the  subject;  but  the  pub- 
lic have  remained  long  deceived,  and  Mr.  E.avenscroft,  who 
always  acted  with  a  motive,  was  induced  by  a  conscientious 
apprehension  of  doing  harm  to  the  cause  of  religion,  to  re- 
frain from  undeceiving  them  during  his  life.  As  he  says 
himself  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  who  had  requested  information 
from  him  in  relation  to  the  great  change  in  his  heart  and 
life,  '"It  is  a  subject  I  have  never  been  fond  of  stirring,  be- 
cause I  was  averse  to  putting  myself  forward,  and  because 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  my  case  might  have  been  used 
and  perverted  to  strengthen  the  despisers  of  the  means  of 
grace,  in  tlieir  neglect  of  all  the  outward  appointments  of 
God's  wisdom  and  goodness,  to  beget  consideration  in  their 
hearts,  and  lead  them  to  repentance.  Therefore  it  was,  that 
when  some  person,  both  unknown  to  me,  and  ignorant  of  me, 
undertook  to  publish  what  was  totally  without  foundation,  I 
cared  not  to  contradict  it,  otherwise  tlian  in  conversation  to 
the  few  friends  who  questioned  me  on  the  subject." 

This  same  disregard  of  his  own  reputation  when  brought 
into  collision  with  the  interests  of  his  fellow-men,  or  -with  the 
glory  of  his  God,  continued  to  actuate  all  Mr.  Ravenscroft's 
motions  until  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  induced,  how- 
ever, towards  the  close  of  his  life,  to  believe,  or  rather  to 
yield  to  the  opinions  of  his  friends,  that  a  narrative  of  his  re- 
ligious life,  and  of  his  life  and  character  before  he  became  a 
convert,  would  be  useful:  and  the  reader  is  here  presented 
with  the  last  records  of  that  pen  which  has  done  so  much  for 
the  sacred  cause  of  religion.  Although  the  hand  of  death 
ai-rested  its  autiior  in  his  progress  towards  its  completion,  yet 
enough  has  been  told  in  this  memoir  to  vindicate  him  from 
the  calunmies  which,  in  connexion  with  the  fictitious  story 
of  his  conversion,  were  circulated  much  more  widely  than 
]ii8  verbal  contradictions  of  them. 

"In  fulfilment  of  a  promise  made  to  several  of  my  friends, 
who  judged — whether  rightly  or  not  must  be  proved  by  the 
event. — that  advantage  might  be  derived  to  the  cause  of  true 
religion,  and  the  interests  of  the  Clnirch  promoted,  from  the 


b  MEMOIE. 

circumstances  attending  my  entering  upon  a  religious  course 
of  life  autbentically  communicated;  and  that  as  a  public  man 
I  owed  it  to  the  public,  and  particularly  to  the  communion 
of  "which  I  am  a  minister,  to  record  the  leading  events  of  my 
religious  life,  I  commit  to  writing  what  the  memoranda  I 
have  preserved  enable  me  to  give  of  my  personal  history,  so 
far  as  tliat  is  connected  with  edification  to  the  members  of 
the  Church,  and  to  all  other  serious  and  unprejudiced  per- 
sons. In  performing  this  promise,  I  rather  yield  to  the  rea- 
sonings of  others  than  to  the  conviction  of  my  own  mind, 
having  long  been  of  opinion  that  effects  which  have  not  fol- 
lowed the  living  services  of  any  uninspired  minister  of  Christ, 
are  hardly  to  be  expected  from  posi/iumous  endeavors.  God, 
however,  can  give  effect  to  whatever  means  seem  good  to 
him,  and  if  it  shall  be  his  will  to  work  by  this  for  the  salva- 
tion of  even  a  single  sinner,  or  to  remove  a  single  prejudice 
against  his  Church,  to  his  holy  and  merciful  name  be  all  the 
glory  both  now  and  forever. 

"John  S.  Ravensceoft." 


"Though  a  native  of  Virginia,  being  born  in  the  county  of 
Prince  George,  in  the  year  1772, — of  which  State  my  proge- 
nitors, as  far  back  as  I  have  been  able  to  trace  them,  with 
the  exception  of  my  maternal  grandfather,  were  also  natives 
— my  first  recollections  are  of  Scotland,  my  parents  having 
removed  from  Virginia  the  same  year  in  which  I  was  born; 
and,  after  an  interval  of  about  two  years  spent  in  the  north 
of  England,  purchased  and  settled  finally  in  the  south  of  Scot- 
land, where  my  mother  and  two  sisters  still  reside.  Here  I 
received  the  rudiments  of  my  education;  and  I  feel  bound  to 
record,  that  I  owe  much  to  the  custom  there  established  of 
making  tlie  Scriptures  a  school  book — a  custom,  I  am  grieved 
to  say  it,  not  only  abandoned  in  the  schools  and  academies 
among  us,  but  denounced  as  improper,  if  not  injurious.  Al- 
though I  was  unconscious,  at  the  time,  of  any  power  or  influ- 
ence over  my  thoughts  or  actions  thence  derived,  yet  what 
mere  memory  retained  of  their  life-giving  truths,  proved  of 
unspeakable  advantage,  when  I  became  awakened  on  the 


MEMOIE. 


9 


subject  of  religion;  and  I  am  constrained  to  believe,  that 
what  was  thus  unconsciously  sown  in  mj  heart,  though 
smothered  and  choked  by  the  levity  of  youth,  and  abused 
and  perverted  by  the  negligence  and  sinfulness  of  my  riper 
years,  was  nevertheless  a  preparation  of  Heaven's  foresight 
and  mercy,  for  grace  to  quicken  me — a  mighty  help  to  my 
amazed  and  confounded  soul,  when  brought  to  a  just  view  of 
mj  actual  condition  as  a  sinner,  both  by  nature  and  by  prac- 
tice. Without  this  help,  I  might,  like  thousands  of  others, 
have  wandered  in  a  bewildered  state,  the  prey  of  many  de- 
lusions— engendered  by  the  anxieties  of  a  disturbed  and  ig- 
norant mind,  or  by  the  fanaticism  of  those  many  well  mean- 
ing, perhaps,  but  certainly  most  ignorant  men,  who  yet  ven- 
ture to  become  teachers  of  religion.  For  this  reason  it  is 
that  I  have  been  earnest,  during  my  ministry,  in  pressing 
upon  parents,  and  upon  those  who  have  the  care  of  youth, 
the  great  duty  of  furnishing  their  tender  and  pliant  minds 
with  the  treasures  of  divine  knowledge  and  saving  truth,  con- 
tained in  God's  revealed  word.  No  matter  what  specious 
arguments  may  be  brought  against  the  practice,  we  can  re- 
ply, that  it  is  a  means  of  grace  of  God's  own  appointment, 
and  one  too  which  he  has  promised  to  bless  and  make  eifec- 
tual.  No  matter  though  it  be  objected,  as  it  often  is  object- 
ed by  the  vain  disputers  of  this  world,  that  the  minds  of  chil- 
dren can  not  comprehend  such  deep  and  unsearchable  won- 
ders— God,  we  know,  is  able  to  open  their  understandings, 
and  "out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  to  perfect  his 
praise."  No  matter,  though  it  be  argued,  that  it  is  in  vain, 
if  not  actually  wrong,  to  force  their  minds  to  religion,  and 
thus  give  them  a  distaste,  and  even  an  antipathy  against  it. 
Alas!  what  a  flimsy  subterfuge  of  unbelief  and  opposition  to 
God;  and  yet  what  numbers  are  swayed  by  it?  For,  is  it 
thought  wrong,  or  even  improper,  to  force  their  minds,  if  we 
must  use  the  words,  to  any  other  branch  of  learning?  and  yet 
the  danger  of  distaste,  and  even  of  antipathy,  to  human  sci- 
ences, must  be  equally  great.  Besides,  is  not  this  distaste, 
and  even  antipathy,  to  divine  things,  the  natural  state  of 
fallen  creatures:  and  religion,  the  love  of  God,  and  goodness, 
a  forced^  that  is,  an  unnatural  state,  to  us  spiritually  dead 
and  undone  creatures,  and  therefore  to  be  counteracted  by 


10 


MEMOIE. 


every  possible  means?  Let  no  jDarent,  then,  be  led  away  by 
this  infidel  sophistry,  to  withhold  religious  instruction  from 
the  earliest  years  of  his  children,  or  to  trust  them  in  a  school 
where  the  Bible  is  excluded  as  a  class  book. 

"Having  lost  my  father  in  my  ninth  year,  it  became  ne- 
cessary to  return  to  Virginia,  to  look  after  the  wreck  of  his 
property.  In  my  seventeenth  year,  accordingly,  I  was  sepa- 
rated from  all  I  had  ever  known,  and  that  was  dear  to  me, 
and  landed  in  "Virginia  on  liew  Year's  day,  1789 — a  stranger 
to  all  around  me,  and  in  great  part  my  own  master — at  least 
without  any  control  I  had  been  accustomed  to  respect.  That 
under  such  circumstances  I  should  quickly  overcome  those 
habits  which  the  restraints  of  education  had  imposed,  and 
wander  after  the  lusts  of  my  sinful  heart,  and  the  desires  of 
my  darkened  eyes,  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at.  "Wander 
indeed  I  did,  not  even  waiting  for  temptation,  but  madly 
seeking  it,  and  soon  lost  every  early  good  impression,  and 
even  those  fears  and  misgivings  about  futurity,  of  which  all 
men  are  conscious  occasionally. 

"In  looking  back  upon  this  period  of  my  life,  I  think  it 
may  be  profitable  to  advert  to  a  circumstance  which  had 
great  influence  in  confirming  me  in  the  sinful  course  1  was 
pursuing.  It  being  determined  by  my  friends  that  I  should 
turn  my  attention  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  as  presenting 
the  fairest  prospects  of  honor  and  emolument,  I  entered  the 
college  of  "William  and  Mary,  that  I  might  attend  the  law 
lectures  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  "Wythe,  together  with  the  other 
courses  of  scientific  acquirement  there  taught.  The  plan  was 
doubtless  good,  and  might  have  been  of  the  greatest  advan- 
tage to  my  prospects  in  life;  but  by  tlirowing  me  still  more 
upon  my  own  guidance,  and  increasing  my  means  of  self- 
indulgence,  by  the  liberal  allowance  for  my  expenses,  it  in- 
creased in  an  equal  degreee  the  power  of  temptation,  and  I 
have  to  look  back  on  the  time  spent  in  college  as  more  marked 
by  proficiency  in  extravagance,  and  juvenile  vice,  than  in 
scientific  attainment.  Yet  the  means  of  improvement  were 
fully  within  my  reach,  and  that  I  did  not  profit  more,  is 
wholly  my  own  fault.  The  professors  in  the  different  def>art- 
ments  were  able  men,  and  the  regulations  of  the  institution 
good  in  themselves,  but  they  were  not  enforced  with  the  vigi- 


MEMOIR.  11 

lance  and  precision  necessary  to  make  them  efficient,  in  that 
moral  discipline  so  supremely  important  at  this  period  of 
life.  Except  at  the  hours  appropriated  to  the  lectures,  my 
time  was  at  my  own  disposal;  and  though  expected  to  attend 
prayers  every  morning  in  the  college  chapel,  absence  was 
not  strictly  noticed,  and  very  slight  excuses  were  admitted. 
Attendance  at  church,  on  Sunday,  was  entirely  optional,  and 
the  great  subject  of  religion  wholly  unattended  to.  The  stu- 
dents were  required  to  board  in  college;  but  from  the  small 
number — not  exceeding  fifteen — from  the  low  price  of  board, 
and  the  constant  altercations  with  the  steward — the  public 
table  was  given  up,  and  the  students  permitted  to  board  in  the 
taverns,  or  elsewhere,  as  suited  them.  This  every  way  injuri- 
ous and  most  unwise  permission,  presented  facilities  for  dis- 
sipation which  would  not  otherwise  have  been  found,  and 
encouraged  as  they  were  by  the  readiness  with  which  credit 
was  obtained  from  persons  whose  calculations  were  formed  on 
the  heedlessness  and  improvidence  of  youth,  temptation  was 
divested  of  all  present  impediment  to  its  power.  This  last 
is  an  evil  which  I  believe  attends  all  seminaries  of  learning, 
and  forms  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  their  real  useful- 
ness, and  one  of  the  most  fruitful  nurseries  of  vice.  As  such, 
it  ought  to  be  met  and  resisted  by  the  whole  power  of  the 
community,  and  by  the  arm  of  the  law  inflicting  severe  pecu- 
niary penalty,  independent  of  the  loss  of  the  debt  contracted 
— and  even  imprisonment  of  the  person  convicted  of  giving 
credit  to  a  student  at  any  college,  or  other  public  seminary 
of  learning.  Some  such  provision,  it  appears  to  me,  is  essen- 
tial to  the  public  usefulness  of  such  institutions;  and  if  en- 
forced with  due  vigilance  by  the  professors,  in  whose  name, 
and  at  whose  instance,  the  prosecution  should  be  carried  on, 
would  go  far  to  counteract  this  increasing  mischief.  And 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  practice  of  giving  credit  to 
minors  under  such  circumstances,  is  a  stab  at  the  very  vitals 
of  society,  hardly  any  penalty  can  be  considered  too  severe. 
"While  I  thus  "walked  according  to  the  course  of  this 
world,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind,"  the 
customs  and  manners  of  genteel  society  imposed  some  degree 
of  restraint  upon  my  outward  deportment;  and  the  respect  I 
really  entertained  for  some  excellent  persons,  who  favored 


12 


MEMOIR. 


me  with  their  notice  and  regard,  preserved  me  from  open 
debauchery.  -Strange  creatures!  we  can  submit  to  some  re- 
straint, and  command  ourselves  to  some  self-denial,  for  the 
praise  of  "man  that  is  a  worm,"  while  we  madly  defy  the 
omnipotent  God!  We  can  be  influenced  by  the  fear  of  a  fel- 
low-creature, while  there  is  "no  fear  of  God  before  our  eyes." 
What  other  proof  do  we  need  to  convince  us  that  we  are  fal- 
len creatures,  spiritually  dead,  and  must  continue  such,  un- 
less quickened  into  life  by  God  the  Holy  Ghost? 

"These  restraints,  however,  could  not  have  continued  to 
operate  for  any  length  of  time  against  the  natural  tendency 
of  vice  to  wax  worse  and  worse;  and  that  I  became  not  totally 
and  irrecoverably  sunk  in  its  ruinous  depths,  I  owe,  under 
OoD,  to  a  most  excellent  woman,  who  consented  to  become 
my  wife  in  my  21st  year.  This  event  gave  a  new  direction 
to  the  course  of  my  life!  I  abandoned  the  study  of  law  and 
embraced  a  country  life,  devoting  myself  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. Thus  removed  from  the  temptations  and  facilities  to 
vice,  which  our  cities  and  towns  present  so  readily,  with 
regular  and  pleasant  occupation  on  my  farm,  and  my  domes- 
tic happiness  studied  and  promoted  by  the  affectionate  part- 
ner of  my  life,  my  years  rolled  on  as  happily — were  the  pre- 
sent life  alone  to  be  provided  for — as  could  reasonably  be 
desired.  The  personal  regard  I  entertained  for  my  wife,  in- 
creased to  the  highest  esteem,  and  even  veneration,  as  the 
virtues  of  her  character  opened  upon  me,  while  the  prudence 
and  discretion  of  her  conduct  won  me  gradually  from  my 
previous  dissipated  habits.  She  was  a  woman  of  high  prin- 
ciple and  of  a  very  independent  character:  what  she  did  not 
approve  of,  she  would  not  smile  upon;  yet  she  never  gave  me 
a  cross  word,  or  an  ill-natured  look  in  her  life,  and  in  the 
twenty -three  years  it  pleased  God  to  spare  her  to  me,  such 
was  her  discretion,  that  though  I  often  acted  otherwise  than- 
she  could  have  wished  me  to  do,  and  though  she  \vas  faithful 
to  reprove  me,  there  never  was  a  quarrel  or  temporary  es- 
trangement between  us.  "She  opened  her  mouth  with  wis- 
dom, and  in  her  tongue  was  tiie  law  of  kindness."  So  that 
when  she  left  me  for  a  better  world,  it  w^as  an  exceeding 
comfort  to  me  that  I  could  look  back  upon  so  little  to  re- 
proach myself  with,  respecting  her;  only  this,  that  but  for  the 


MEMOIR,  13 

last  five  years  of  our  union,  had  I  any  sense  of  her  real  value^ 
or  of  God's  goodness  in  giving  her  to  me,  or  any  communion 
with  her  in  the  love  of  that  Saviour,  who  had  been  her  hope 
and  trust  through  life,  (though  she  was  not  formally  a  pro- 
fessor— the  Church  in  which  she  was  baptised  having  been 
cast  down  before  slie  came  to  years  of  discretion) — and  who 
was  her  stay  and  support  in  the  hour  of  death.  "O  how 
good  it  is,"  would  she  say  to  me  as  I  watched  by  her  dying 
bed,  "to  have  a  Saviour,  and  such  a  Saviourl" 

''But  though  my  marriage  certainly  produced  a  great 
change  in  my  outward  conduct,  I  was  nevertheless  as  far 
from  God  as  ever;  without  even  a  thought  of  religion,  or  once 
opening  the  Bible  for  eighteen  years,  to  learn  what  God  the 
Lord  should  say,  or  once  Ijending  my  knees  in  pra^'er  to 
him,  on  whom  my  all  depended;  and  though  twice  in  this 
time  brought  to  the  gates  of  death  by  sickness,  yet  no  uneasy 
thought  of  hereafter  disturbed  my  mind.  So  true  is  the  ex- 
pression of  the  Psalmist  that  "the  wicked  hath  no  bands  in 
death."  So  great  was  my  neglect,  in  fact  disrespect,  of  even 
the  outward  forms  of  religion,  that  from  the  year  1792  to  the 
year  1810,  I  was  not  present  at  any  place  of  public  worship 
more  than  six  or  seven  times,  and  then  not  from  choice,  but 
from  some  accidental  accommodation  to  propriety,  in  surren- 
dering to  the  opinions  of  others. 

"Indeed  the  kind  of  preaching  I  had  in  my  power  to  hear^ 
was  not  of  a  description  to  engage  the  attention  of  any  in- 
formed mind.  I  soon  found  that  I  knew  more  of  the  Scrip- 
tures from  memory  than  the  preachers,  and  was  vain  enough 
to  think  that  I  understood  them  better  and  could  apply  them 
more  correctl}',  than  the  well-meaning  perhaps,  but  certainly 
most  ignorant,  unqualified,  and  of  course  injurious  men,  who 
appeared  around  in  the  character  of  ministers  of  religion.  But 
as  I  had  no  spiritual  senses  as  yet  quickened  in  me,  the 
preaching  of  the  cross,  even  from  an  angel,  would  have  been 
to  me  as  to  the  Greeks  of  old — foolishness.  Oh  what  a  mir- 
acle of  long  sufiering,  that  in  all  this  time  God  was  not  pro- 
voked to  cut  me  oif!  What  a  miracle  of  grace,  that  I  am 
permitted  to  think  and  speak  of  it,  and  to  adore  the  riches- 
of  his  mercy,  in  bringing  me  to  a  better  mind! 
"It  was  in  the  year  1810  that  it  pleased  God  to  set  mj 


14  MEMOIR. 

mind  at  work,  and  gradually  to  bring  me  to  douLt  the  dark 
security  of  my  unawakened  state.  But  I  am  not  conscious 
of  any  peculiar  incident  or  circumstance,  that  first  led  me  to 
considerations  of  the  kind. 

"As  I  was  the  manager  of  my  own  estate,  which  comprised 
a  set  of  mills,  as  well  as  a  plantation,  about  two  miles  distant 
from  each  other,  I  was  of  coui-se  much  alone,  at  least  in  that 
kind  of  solitude  which  gives  tiie  mind  opportunity  to  com- 
mune with  itself.  It  was  in  my  rides  from  one  to  the  other, 
and  while  superintending  the  labors  of  my  people,  that  a 
train  of  thought,  to  which  I  was  previously  altogether  unac- 
customed, began  to  occupy  my  attention,  and  though  dis- 
missed once  and  again  wx)uld  still  return,  and  with  every  re- 
turn would  interest  me  more  and  more.  That  the  train  of 
thought  thus  suggested,  concerned  my  condition  as  an  ac- 
countable creature,  will  be  readily  imagined,  as  also,  that  on 
the  review  I  found  it  bad  enough.  This  it  was  no  difficult 
thing  for  me  to  feel  and  to  admit,  nor  as  yet  did  there  appear 
much  difficulty  in  reforming  what  I  could  not  justify. 

"An  impatient  and  passionate  temper,  with  a  most  sinful 
and  hateful  habit  of  profane  swearing,  in  which  I  was  a  great 
proficient,  were  my  most  open  and  besetting  sins.  These, 
however,  I  considered  as  within  my  own  control,  and  as  such, 
set  forthwith  about  amending  them,  but  without  any  reliance 
upon  God  for  help,  or  without  much  if  any  impression  that 
it  was  at  all  needful.  In  this  endeavor  at  reformation,  which 
it  pleased  God  thus  to  permit  me  to  make,  I  went  on  pros- 
perously for  a  season,  and  began  to  pride  myself  in  that  self- 
command  I  seemed  to  possess.  But  jny  own  weakness  was 
yet  to  be  showed  me,  and  when  temptation  again  assailed 
me,  all  my  boasted  self-command  was  but  as  a  rush  against 
the  wall.  I  surrendered  to  passion,  and  from  passion  to  blas- 
phemy. When  I  came  to  reflect  upon  this,  then  it  was  that, 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  was  sensible  of  something  like 
concern — some  consciousness  of  wrong  beyond  what  was  ap- 
parent. But  without  waiting  to  examine  farther,  I  hastily 
concluded  to  exert  myself  more  heartily,  and  yet  to  command 
myself  thoroughly. 

"During  these  my  endeavors,  however,  the  Scriptures  were 
more  and  more  the  object  of  my  attention,  and  from  them  I 


MEMOm.  15 

began  gradiiallj  to  discover  (what  I  was  very  loth  to  admit) 
the  true  state  and  condition  of  human  nature.  What  little 
I  had  lately  come  to  know  of  myself,  however,  and  all  tha.t 
I  knew  of  the  world,  seemed  to  rise  up  as  strong  proofs  that 
tlie  doctrine  of  our  natural  depravity  was  true.  Willing, 
however,  to  escape  from  it,  I  resorted  to  the  subterfuge  of 
too  many  among  us — that  what  we  find  in  the  Scriptures  is 
figuratively  expressed,  and  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  taken  in 
the  strictness  of  the  letter.  But  my  own  experience  was  to 
be  the  expositor  of  the  word.  Again  and  again  were  my 
self  righteous  endeavors  foiled  and  defeated,  much  as  at  the 
first;  and  humbled  and  confounded,  I  became  alarmed  at 
what  must  be  the  issue — if  I  was  thus  to  remain  the  sport  of 
passions  I  could  not  command,  the  prey  of  sin  I  could  not 
conquer.  Something  like  prayer  would  flow  from  my  lips, 
but  it  was  the  prayer  of  a  heart  tiiat  yet  knew  not  aright,  its 
own  plague.  One  more  effort  was  to  be  made,  and  with 
great  circumspection  did  I  watch  over  myself  for  some  weeks. 
Still  did  I  continue,  however,  my  search  in  and  meditation 
upon  the  Scriptures:  and  here  it  was  that  I  found  the  benefit 
of  my  early  acquaintance  with  them.  I  had  not  to  look  afar 
off  for  their  doctrines,  they  were  familiar  to  my  memory  from 
a  child;  I  had  known  them  thus  far,  though  now  it  was  that 
their  living  proof  was  to  be  experienced.  The  whole,  I  be- 
lieve, was  to  be  made  to  depend  on  my  acquiescence  in  the 
turning  point  of  all  religion — that  we  are  lost  and  undone, 
spiritually  dead  and  helpless  in  ourselves;  and  so  I  found  it. 
"Again  and  dreadfully  did  I  fall  from  my  own  steadfast- 
ness— temptation,  like  "a  mighty  man  that  shouteth  by  rea- 
son of  wine,"  swept  my  strength  before  it,  carried  away  my 
resolutions  as  Samson  did  the  gates  of  Gaza.  I  returned  to 
the  house  convinced  of  my  own  helplessness,  of  my  native 
depravity,  and  that  to  spiritual  things  I  was  incompetent.  I 
now  found  of  a  truth  that  "in  me  dwelt  no  good  thins;."  I 
threw  myself  upon  my  bed  in  my  private  room — I  wept — 
I  prayed.  Then  was  showed  unto  me  my  folly  in  trusting  to 
an  arm  of  flesh.  Then  did  it  please  the  Lord  to  ^^oint  my 
bewildered  view  to  him  who  is  "the  Lokd  our  righteousness." 
Then  was  I  enabled  in  another  strength  to  commit  myself 
unto  his  way.     From  that  moment  my  besetting  sin  of  pro- 


16 


MEMOIR. 


fane  swearing  was  overcome,  and  to  this  moment  has  troubled 
me  no  more.  But  much  was  jet  to  be  done,  which  the  same 
gracious  friend  of  poor  sinners  continued  to  supply;  and  to 
lead  me  step  by  step,  to  proclaim  his  saving  name,  and  de- 
clare his  mighty  power  openly  to  the  world. 

"In  making  an  outward  profession  of  religion,  I  acted  as 
multitudes,  alas,  do,  without  considering  that  any  thing  de- 
2)ended  on  my  being  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  or 
that  any  dijEficulty  existed  as  to  what  was  and  what  was  not 
truly  such.  In  choosing  between  the  diflerent  denominations 
into  which  the  Christian  world  is  split  up,  I  considered  no- 
thing moi-e  to  be  necessary  than  agreement  in  points  of  faith 
and  practical  religion,  with  such  a  system  of  discipline  as 
was  calculated  to  promote  the  peace  and  edification  of  the 
society.  This  I  thought  I  found  in  a  body  of  Christians  called 
Republican  Methodists;  and  influenced  in  no  small  degree 
by  personal  friendship  for  one  of  their  preachers,  Mr.  John 
Robinson,  of  Charlotte  county,  my  wife  and  mj^self  took  mem- 
bership with  them.  At  this  time,  however,  they  had  no 
church  organized  within  reach  of  my  dwelling,  only  a  month- 
ly appointment  for  preaching  at  one  of  the  old  churches, 
eight  miles  distant. 

"It  was  not  very  long,  however,  before  this  want  was  sup- 
plied in  the  gathering  together  of  a  sufficient  number  to  con- 
stitute a  church  according  to  their  rule,  in  which  I  was  ap- 
pointed a  lay  elder,  and  labored  for  tiie  benefit  of  the  mem.- 
bers  by  meeting  them  on  the  vacant  Sundays,  and  reading 
to  them  such  printed  discourses  as  I  thought  calculated  to 
instruct  and  impress  them;  and  these  meetings  were  well  at- 
tended, considering  the  prevalent  delusion  on  the  subject  of 
preaching,  and  the  wide  and  deep  objection  to  prepared  ser- 
mons. 

"When  I  had  been  engaged  in  this  way  about  tliree  years, 
increasing  in  knowledge  myself,  as  I  endeavored  to  impart 
it  to  others,  I  gradually  began  to  be  exercised  on  the  subject 
of  the  ministry,  and  to  entertain  the  frequently  returning 
thought,  that  I  might  be  more  useful  to  the  souls  of  my  fel- 
low-sinners than  as  I  then  was,  and  that  I  owed  it  to  God. 
To  this  step,  however,  there  appeared  objections  insurmount- 
able, from  my  worldly  condition,  and  from  my  want  of  pub- 


MEMOIR.  17 

lie  qualifications.  Yet  I  could  not  conceal  from  myself,  that 
if  the  men  with  whom  I  occasionally  associated,  and  those  of 
whom  I  had  obtained  any  acquaintance  as  ministers  of  reli- 
gion, were  qualified  to  fill  the  station,  I  was  behind  none, 
and  superior  to  most  of  them,  in  acquired  knowledge,  if  not 
in  Christian  attainment.  ]\[y  objections  were,  therefore, 
chiefly  from  my  personal  interests,  and  personal  accommo- 
dation, cloaked  under  the  want  of  the  necessary  qualifications 
for  a  public  speaker,  and  some  obscure  views  of  the  great  re- 
sponsibility of  the  ofiice.  I  felt  that  I  dreaded  it,  and  there- 
fore, did  not  encourage  either  the  private  exercises  of  my 
own  mind,  or  the  open  intimations  of  my  brethren.  Yet  I 
could  not  escape  from  the  often  returning  meditation  of  the 
spiritual  wants  of  all  around  me,  of  the  never  to  be  paid  ob- 
ligation I  was  under  to  the  divine  mercy,  and  of  the  duty  I 
owed  to  give  myself  in  any  and  in  every  way  to  God's  dis- 
posal. 

"Of  this  I  entertained  no  dispute;  yet  the  toils  and  j)riva- 
tions,  the  sacrifices  of  worldly  interest,  and  the  contempt  for 
the  calling  itself,  manifested  by  the  wealthier  and  better  in- 
formed classes  of  society,  which  I  once  felt  myself,  and  now 
witnessed  in  others,  were  a  severe  stumbling-block;  and  I 
was  willing  to  resort  to  any  subterfuge  to  escape  encounter- 
ing it.  Yet  I  would  sometimes  think,  that  a  great  part  of 
this  was  more  owincj-  to  the  men  than  to  the  ofiice." 


Thus  abruptly  terminates  this  interesting  narrative,  to  the 
composition  of  which  Mr.  Ravenscroft  devoted  the  intervals 
of  strength  and  leisure  that  he  enjoyed  during  his  last  illness. 
Among  the  memoranda  to  which  he  i-eferred  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  it,  is  found  one  written  by  himself,  in  the  Tear  1819, 
which  is  here  subjoined,  as  a  continuation  of  the  history  of 
his  motives  and  views  in  entering  the  ministry  of  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church,  and  the  causes  of  his  dissatisfaction 
with  the  communion  to  which  he  had  first  attached  himself. 

"In  the  year  1815,  being  much  exercised  on  the  subject  of 
the  ministry,  and  believing  myself  called  to  a  public  station 


18  aiEMOIK. 

in  the  clnircb,  as  well  as  pressed  by  the  solicitations  of  my 
brethren,  I  began  to  revolve  the  question  of  orders  in  my 
inind,  and  to  seek  for  information  on  a  subject  which  I  felt 
was  of  the  last  consequence  to  my  comfort,  and  I  may  say 
usefulness  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  viz:  the  authority  by  which 
I  should  be  commissioned  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  min- 
istry. To  rest  it  upon  the  assurance  I  felt,  that  I  was  called 
of  God  to  the  work,  was  personal  to  myself,  but  could  not 
weigh  with  others  beyond  my  own  opinion;  and  something 
more  than  that  was  essential  to  prevent  me  from  feeling  my- 
self an  intruder  into  the  sacred  oiSce. 

"On  mentioning  my  difficulty  to  the  pastor  of  the  congre- 
gation to  which  I  belonged,  an  able  and  sensible,  though  not 
a  learned  man,  I  found  that  it  was  a  question  he  could  not 
entertain,  being,  like  Dissenters  in  general,  little  if  at  all  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  (not  to  themselves  alone,  but  to 
those  under  their  ciiarge,)  of  valid  and  authorized  ministra- 
tions in  the  Church.  Being  thus  left  to  my  own  resources, 
and  the  word  of  God,  I  became  fully  convinced  that  the  aw- 
ful deposit  of  the  AYord,  by  which  we  sliall  all  be  judged, 
could  never  be  thrown  out  into  the  world  to  be  scrambled 
for,  and  picked  up  by  wliosoevei*  pleased  to  take  hold  of  it; 
and  though  tliis  objection  might  in  some  sort  be  met  by  the 
manifestation  of  an  internal  call,  yet  as  that  internal  call 
could  not  now  be  demonstrated  to  others,  something  more 
was  needed,  which  could  only  be  found  in  the  outward  dele- 
gation of  authority,  from  that  source  to  which  it  was  origi- 
nally committed.  Of  the  necessity  of  this  verifiable  author- 
ity to  the  comfort  and  assurance  of  Christians  in  the  present 
day,  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  presented  itself  to  me  as  de- 
monstrative truth.  Being  tlie  only  possible  mode  by  which 
fallen  creatures  can  become  interested  in  the  covenant  of 
grace,  and  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  Cheist's  gracious  under- 
taking for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  it  must  be  of  the  last  im- 
portance to  parents  and  children  to  be  satisfied  and  assured 
that  such  unspeakable  blessings  should  be  authoritatively 
conveyed.  And  as  the  authority  of  Christ  is  the  very  es- 
sence of  Baptism,  in  the  assurance  of  its  pledges  to  those  to 
whom  it  is  administered,  and  as  this  assurance  can  only  be 
such  by  the  verification  of  the  requisite  power  and  authority 


MEMOIR.  19 

to  administer  the  rite,  it  appeared  clear  to  me,  that  no  as- 
sumptiou  of  tliat  power  bv  any  man,  or  body  of  men,  neither 
any  consequent  delegation  of  it,  could  by  any  possibility  an- 
SM'er  the  intention  and  purpose  of  the  Author  and  Finisher 
of  our  faith,  in  making  Baptism  the  door  of  admission  into 
his  Church. 

"In  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  was  compelled  to  lay  before 
the  district  meeting  of  the  Republican  Methodist  Church,  so 
called,  my  reasons  for  requiring  an  autiiority  to  minister  in 
the  Church  of  Cueist,  wliich  tliey  had  not  to  give,  and  to  re- 
quest a  letter  of  dismission  from  their  communion.  This  was 
granted  me  b}'  the  congregation  of  which  I  was  a  member, 
in  the  most  friendly  and  afi'ectionate  manner.  The  other  dis- 
senting denominations  among  us  I  found  in  the  same  situa- 
tion; all  of  them,  according  to  my  view,  acting  upon  usurped 
authority;  though  I  paused  a  while  on  the  Presbyterian  claim 
to  apostolic  succession — but  as  that  claim  could  date  no  far- 
ther back  than  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  and  in  its  first 
lines  labors  under  the  dispute  whether  it  has  actually  the 
autiiority  which  mere  Preshjters  can  bestow,  (for  it  does  not 
appear  satisfactorily  that  Calvin  ever  had  orders  of  any 
kind,)  I  liad  to  turn  my  attention  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  for  that  deposit  of  apostolic  succession,  in  which  alone 
verifiable  power  to  minister  in  sacred  things  was  to  be  found 
in  these  United  States. 

"I  presented  myself  accordingly  to  Bishop  Moore,  in  the 
city  of  Richmond,  together  with  my  credentials,  and  was  by 
him  received  as  a  candidate  for  holy  orders.  The  canons  of 
the  Church  requiring  that  peisons  applying  for  orders  shall 
have  their  names  inscribed  in  the  books,  as  candidates,  for 
one  year  previous  to  their  ordination,  I  was  furnished  by 
Bishop  Moore  with  letters  of  licence  as  a  lay-reader  in  the 
Church,  which  are  dated  the  17th  of  February  1816.  Having 
labored  during  the  year  in  the  parishes  of  Cumberland,  in 
Lunenburg  county,  and  of  St.  James,  in  the  county  of  Meck- 
lenburg, with  acceptance,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  with 
effect,  particularly  in  St.  James's  parish,  1  was  most  ear- 
nestly invited  to  take  charge  of  the  latter  congregation,  as 
their  minister.  This  invitation  I  accepted;  and  having  re- 
ceived the  necessary  testimonials  from  the  Standing  Com- 


20 


MEMOIK. 


mittee  of  the  Diocese,  and  passed  the  requisite  trials,  I  was 
admitted  to  the  ofBce  of  Deacon  in  the  Church,  on  Friday, 
the  25th  day  of  April  1817,  in  the  Monumental  Church,  in 
the  city  of  Richmond;  and  for  reasons  satisfactory  to  the 
Bishop  and  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese,  by  virtue  of 
the  canon  in  such  case  made  and  provided,  I  was  admitted 
to  the  order  of  Priest;  and  ordained  thei-eto  in  the  church  in 
the  town  of  Fredericksburg,  on  Tuesday,  the  6th  day  of  May 
following,  during  the  session  of  the  Convention  in  that  phice. 
On  returning  to  my  parish,  deej^ly  impressed  with  the  awful 
commission  intrusted  to  me,  and  with  the  laborious  task  of 
rescuing  from  iu'veterate  prejudice  the  doctrines,  discipline, 
and  worship  of  the  Church,  and  of  reviving  among  the  peo- 
ple that  regard  for  it,  to.  which  it  is  truly  entitled,  I  com- 
menced my  ministerial  labors,  as  the  only  real  business  I 
now  had  in  life,  relying  on  God's  mercy  and  goodness,  through 
the  LoKD  Jesus  Christ,  for  fruit  to  his  praise." 


The  most  obvious  reflection  which  occurs  on  the  reading 
of  this  history  of  the  motions  of  Mr.  Ravenscroft's  mind, 
when  he  was  about  to  assume  the  character  of  a  minister  in 
the  Church,  is,  that  he  was  brought  to  the  result  he  men- 
tions, contrary  to  established  prejudices,  and  without  any 
extraneous  influence.     The  simple  fact  of  his  having  first 
joined  a  body  of  Christians,  the  fundamental  principle  of 
whose  society  is  the  rejection  of  all  order  and  all  creeds, 
shows  how  far  removed  in  attachment  he  was  from  that 
Church  wdiich  subsequently  became  so  dear  to  him.   Having 
become  so  far  bound  to  that  society  as  to  be  a  prominent 
leader  in  it,  and  entertaining  the  warmest  personal  regard 
for  many  of  those  with  wliom  he  was  in  communion,  it  is 
probable  that  his  inclinations,  so  far  from  according  with  the 
dictates  of  his  reason  and  judgment,  on  the  important  subject 
of  Orders,  would  have  rather  prompted  him  to  resist  them, 
and  that  the  conclusion  to  which  he  ultimately  came,  in  favor 
of  the  Church,  was  forced  upon  his  conscience,  by  the  pres- 
sure  of  truth  alone^  unaided  by  any  adventitious  circum- 
stances. 


MEMOIE. 


21 


The  clergyman  of  the  parish  in  wliose  bounds  he  resided, 
died  about  the  same  time  wlien  he  seems  to  have  been  first 
exercised  on  the  subject  of  the  ministry,  and  tliough  Mr.  Ka- 
venscroft  felt  for  that  gentleman  the  sincerest  attachment, 
and  on  many  occasions  souglit  his  aid  and  counsel  in  his  reli- 
«-ious  coui'se,  yet  his  deatli  deprived  him  of  the  assistance  he 
might  have  otherwise  looked  for  from  that  quarter,  in  his 
more  enlarged  inquiries.  He  was  thus  left,  to  use  his  own 
expression,  "to  his  own  resources  and  the  word  of  God,"  and 
guided  alone  by  the  light  of  the  latter,  he  attained  that  per- 
fect conviction  of  the  exclusive  Divine  right,  appertaining  to 
Episcopal  ministrations,  which  he  asserted  so  unwaveringly 
in  liis  after  life. 

A  reference  to  these  circumstances  has  been  here  made, 
as  they  account,  in  some  measure,  for  the  inflexibility  of  Mr. 
Ravenscroft  on  the  subject  of  Episcopac}'  ever  afterwards. 
iJad  he  been  trained  up  from  a  child  to  love  and  to  venerate 
tlie  Church,  or  luid  he  been  led  by  the  mere  force  of  educa- 
tion or  of  expediency  to  become  a  member  and  a  minister  of 
it,  it  is  ])0isible  that  liis  feelings  in  i-elation  to  it  might  have 
been  somewliat  different  from  wliat  they  were.  An  ingenu-  ^ 
ous  mind  like  his,  would  have  made  some  allowances  for  the 
prejudices  of  education,  even  in  regard  to  its  own  reasonings, 
and  still  more  for  the  bias  given  by  inclination  or  accidental 
circumstances.  Conscious  of  the  general  effect  of  these  cau- 
ses, it  inight  have  sometimes  faltered  in  urging  the  exclusive 
truth  of  opinions  formed  under  their  influence,  and  have  oc- 
casional misgivings  that  its  conclusions  were  not  necessarily 
correct.  But  there  were  no  sucli  sources  of  indecision  to 
operate  upon  Mr.  Ravenscroft's  conduct.  He  had  arrived  at 
a  conclusion  adverse  to  established  opinions,  and  contrary, 
as  may  be  presumed,  to  his  own  wishes.  He  had  to  make 
the  painful  and  often  humiliating  sacrifice  of  sentiments  al- 
ready avowed  and  acted  upon — to  separate  himself  from  a 
Society  to  which  he  was  warmly  attached,  and  which  had 
evidenced  its  attachment  to  him,  by  an  appointment  to  a  re- 
sponsible station;  and  on  the  other  hand,  was  drawn  by  the 
word  of  God  to  a  Church,  whose  principles  (so  far,  at  least, 
as  regards  the  necessity  of  government  and  established  creeds) 
were  as  much  opposed  to  those  of  the  society  to  which  he 


22  MEMOIR. 

belonged,  as  two  communions  professing  to  worship  the  same 
God,  could  be.  It  is  very  apparent,  that  under  circumstances 
like  these,  Mr.  Ravenscroi't  must  have  been  actuated  by  the 
most  assured  conviction  that  the  opinions  he  embraced  were 
in  strict  and  exclusive  accordance  with  the  Bible,  and  that 
he  was  not  justifiable  in  holding,  and  still  less  in  preaching, 
any  others.  And  when  once  the  veil  of  prejudice  was  re- 
moved from  his  eyes,  his  vigorous  mind  clearl}^  discerned 
that  these  opinions,  if  true,  and  if  taught  by  God  himself, 
were  not  to  be  covered  up  and  kept  out  of  view  because  they 
differed  from  the  vain  imaginations  of  men.  As  a  faithful 
servant,  he  paid  more  regard  to  the  injunctions  of  his  Master, 
than  to  the  clamors  of  those  whose  errors  he  denounced;  and 
believing  the  opinions  referred  to,  to  be,  without  question, 
distinctly  revealed,  he  shrunk  not  from  what  he  conceived 
to  be  his  imperative  duty,  in  preaching  them.  From  the 
hour  that  he  connected  himself  witli  the  Church,  his  opinions 
respecting  its  charactei",  its  doctrine,  and  its  discipline,  were 
decidedly  and  avowedly  of  that  kind  known  by  the  appel- 
lation of  Iligli  Church  principles,  and  as  he  progressed  in 
Christian  experience,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  word  of 
God,  and  of  the  writings  of  those  fathers  who  are  considered 
its  best  interpreters,  his  opinions  only  became  the  more  clear 
and  confirmed. 

In  preaching  in  public,  and  advocating  in  private,  these 
opinions,  which  he  regarded  as  essential  to  the  validity  of 
the  ministrations  that  he  exercised,  Mr.  Kavenscroft  still  re- 
tained that  earnestness  of  manner  and  ardor  of  expression, 
which,  besides  being  constitutional,  had  been  habitual  with 
him  for  near  forty  years;  and  many  who  had  no  opportunities 
of  knowing  the  kindliness  of  his  nature  and  the  warmth  of 
his  Christian  benevolence,  \vere  disposed  to  regard  him  as 
overbearing  and  uncharita1)le;  but  in  his  case,  as  in  many 
others,  the  character  of  the  Christian  was  modified,  \vithout 
being  spoiled  b\''  the  constitution  of  the  tnaii;  and  his  ear- 
nestness and  ardor  were  certainly  unaccompanied  with  the 
defilements  of  malice  or  of  bigotr}-.  The  circumstances  al- 
ready mentioned,  attending  his  union  with  the  Church,  made 
him  repose  unusual  confidence  in  the  conclusions  at  which 
he  had  arrived,  and  the  ardent  gratitude  to  God,  for  his  long 


MEMOIR. 


9<? 


forbennmce  towards  himself,  which  was  im questionably  the 
distinguishing  trait  of  his  Christian  character,  prompted  him 
to  the  most  devoted  ze?il  in  His  service.  These  combined 
causes  might  make  him  at  times  appear  positive  and  impor- 
tunate; but  whoever  had  an  opportunity  of  contemplating 
him  in  his  private  intercourse  with  his  flock,  and  of  witness- 
ing his  gentle  and  paternal  deportment  towards  them,  knew 
that  these  outward  indications  of  hai-shness  had  no  corre- 
spondent  feelings  in  his  bosom. 

Mr.  Ravenscroft's  character  as  a  Christian  was  fully  appre- 
ciated by  the  little  flock  over  which  he  was  now  the  over- 
seer, and  his  labors  as  a  minister  were  attended  with  very 
gratifying  success.  At  the  time  that  he  first  connected  him- 
self as  a  lay  reader  with  it,  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  was 
entirely  unknown,  except  in  one  family;  and  in  fifteen  months 
afterwards  he  had  a  large  congregation  of  "attentive  hearers 
and  devont  worshippers,"  who  erected  for  their  use  a  com- 
modious place  of  public  worship.  To  some,  however,  his 
preaching  was  very  offensive,  and  brought  upon  him  that 
reproach  to  which  the  faithful  minister  of  Christ  lias  been 
liable  in  every  period  of  the  world.  To  the  rich  and  worldly- 
minded,  especially,  to  whom  he  had  been  so  long  allied  in 
feeling  and  in  practice,  he  now  addressed  his  most  heart- 
searching  appeals,  and  familiar  as  he  was  with  all  their  shifts 
and  evasions,  he  exposed  them  to  themselves  with  a  fidelity 
and  truth  of  coloring  which  they  could  not  tolerate.  Preach- 
ing of  this  kind,  which  they  knew  not  how  to  resist,  they  af- 
fected to  despise,  and  this  faithful  minister,  though  never  de- 
terred for  a  moment  from  revealing  the  whole  of  God's  will, 
was  much  and  often  grieved  at  the  deadness  and  coldness  of 
this  class  of  his  hearers.  To  those,  too,  from  whom  he  dif- 
fered in  opinion  respecting  tlie  constitution  of  the  Church,  he 
often  gave  serious  offence;  and  in  one  of  the  congregations 
which  he  served  he  met  from  this  source  with  many  painful 
impediments.  But  with  a  remarkable  self-devotion  and  de- 
cision of  character,  he  pursued  the  tenor  of  his  way,  alike 
undismayed  by  the  reproaches  of  his  adversaries,  and  un- 
changed by  tlie  admiration  of  his  friends.  He  seems  to  have 
been  actuated  by  a7i  unbounded  sense  of  God's  mercy  to- 


24  MEMOIR. 

wards  himself,  and  to  Lave  thought  the  dedication  to  his  ser- 
vice of  all  the  energies  of  his  body  and  mind,  far  from  being 
an  adequate  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  bounty:  doubtless 
the  recollection  of  the  many  years,  during  which  his  talent 
had  been  buried,  added  to  his  diligence  in  preparing  for  the 
coming  of  his  Lokd. 

Having  lost  his  first  wife  in  the  year  1814,  Mr.  Ravens- 
croft  was  married  to  his  second  wife  in  the  year  1818.  This 
lady,  to  whom  he  was  ever  a  most  affectionate  husband,  and 
whose  consistent  Christian  character  was  at  once  a  comfort 
and  an  aid  to  him  during  their  union,  was  Miss  Buford,  of 
Lunenburg  county,  the  daughter  of  one  of  his  oldest  friends. 
In  the  ensuing  winter  he  sustained  a  severe  loss  by  fire,  hav- 
ing had  his  dwelling  house,  and  all  it  contained,  burnt  du- 
ring his  absence  from  home.  This  loss,  joined  to  his  profuse 
generosity,  and  probably  his  diminished  attention  to  his  se- 
cular affairs  after  lie  entered  the  ministry,  reduced  consider- 
ably the  value  of  his  estate,  and  after  this  period  he  was,  in 
part,  dependent  upon  the  support  which  he  derived  from  his 
connexion  with  his  parish. 

His  attention  to  the  duties  of  his  calling,  which  he  suffered 
nothing  to  divert,  "was  indeed  remarkable.  His  punctuality 
as  a  minister,  for  instance,  was  so  exact,  that  during  the  whole 
time  he  officiated  as  deacon  and  priest,  he  was  never  known 
to  fail  in  keeping  an  appointment.  Relying,  with  a  confi- 
dence which  ultimately  became  fatal,  upon  the  vigor  and 
stability  of  his  constitution,  he  set  at  nauglit  all  kinds  of  wea- 
ther, while  engaged  in  duties  that  called  him  from  home. 
Even  when  the  weather  was  so  inclement  that  he  would  not 
permit  his  servant,  who  acted  as  the  sexton  to  his  churches, 
to  accompany  him,  he  would  himself  take  the  keys  and  ride 
off  alone  five  or  ten  miles  to  the  regular  place  of  worship, 
without,  perhaps,  the  slightest  expectation  of  meeting  an  in- 
dividual, and  sometimes,  as  he  used  to  express  himself, 
"would  ride  around  the  Church  when  the  snow  was  a  foot 
deep,  and  leave  Ms  track,  as  a  testimony  against  liis  ])eojpleP 
This  seemingly  supererogatory  exposure  of  himself  he  found 
necessary  for  some  members  of  his  congregation.  "If,"  said 
he,  "they  could  say  with  any  sort  of  plausibility — the  wea- 
ther is  bad  to-day,  and  Mr.  Ravenscroft  will  not  turn  out, 


MEMOIR.  25' 

the  consequence  would  be  that  the  slightest  inclemency  would 
avail  them  as  an  excuse  for  staying  at  home;  but  I  put  a  stop 
to  all  such  evasions,  by  being  always  at  Church,  let  the  wea- 
ther be  what  it  may,  and  they  can  always  calculate  with  cer- 
tainty upon  meeting  me  if  they  choose  to  turn  out  themselves." 

All  this  diligence  and  devotion  did  not  fail  to  be  attended 
with  their  usual  and  natural  results.  By  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  his  labors,  the  seed  which  he  sowed  with  so  much  in- 
dustry and  fidelity,  and  watered  with  fervent  and  unceasing 
prayers,  brought  forth  a  large  and  rapid  increase,  not  only  in 
his  own  parish,  but  wherever  he  had  thrown  it  by  the  way- 
side. An  eminent  member  of  the  diocese  of  Virginia,  him- 
self an  active  laborer  in  his  Lord's  vineyard,  the  late  Dr. 
Wilmer,  writes  to  Mr.  Ravenscroft  about  this  period,  to  the 
following  effect:  "The  Lord  of  the  vineyard  seems  to  be 
granting  you  the  rare  favor,  that  as  you  have  entered  late 
into  his  service  you  sh<»uld  have  the  honor  and  reward  of 
doing  much  in  a  short  space — wliile  we  who  have  been  longer 
at  the  work  hardly  begin  to  enter  upon  the  fruits,  you  at  once 
seem  to  have  reaped  a  glorious  harvest.  You  get  even  more 
than  your  'penny.' " 

Keither  were  Mr,  Kavenscroft's  influence  and  usefulness 
circumscribed  within  the  sphere  of  his  parochial  duties. 
Though  young  in  the  ministry,  his  powerful  talents  and  evi- 
dent singleness  of  purpose  in  his  ministerial  labors  acquired 
for  him  a  degree  of  consideration  amongst  his  brethren, 
which  he  did  not  fail  to  use  for  the  good  of  the  Church  and 
the  glory  of  God.  Besides  the  active  and  efficient  part  which 
he  took  in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  several  so- 
cieties under  its  control,  he  hesitated  not  to  stimulate  his 
fellow-laborers,  by  the  most  affectionate  appeals,  to  constant 
diligence  and  faithfulness,  and  amongst  his  papers  are  found 
letters  thanking  him  for  his  "friendly  smitings."  One  of  his 
correspondents  says  in  reply:  "I  concur  with  you  on  the  im- 
portance and  necessity  of  our  bringing  before  the  people 
more  faithfully  the  distinctive  principles  and  features  of  the 
Church.  There  has  been  a  lamentable  deficiency  among 
many  of  us — at  least  I  speak  for  myself.  It  appears  to  me 
that  the  best  mode  is  to  do  it  gradually,  by  private  instruc- 
tion, by  tracts  and  books,  and  especially  by  forming  the  rising 


26  MEMom. 

generation  upon  the  primitive  model.  This  I  shall  endeavor 
to  do,  by  the  grace  of  God."  That  this  labor  of  love  on  his 
part  was  not  regarded  as  obtrusive  or  unkindly  performed, 
appears  abundantly  from  other  parts  of  this  correspondence. 
"Happy  am  I,"  says  his  correspondent,  "in  the  belief  that 
we  agree  in  the  main  point,  and  that  no  difference  of  opinion 
will  be  sufficient  to  interrupt  that  brotherly  love,  which,  it  is 
a  great  part  of  my  happiness  to  believe,  subsists  between  us." 
In  the  years  1820  and  1821  the  subject  of  baptism  under-' 
went  a  very  extensive  examination  in  the  Theological  Reper- 
tory, a  periodical  under  the  patronage  of  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention, and  edited  by  some  of  its  ablest  ministers.  Although 
the  views  held  by  the  Editors  in  relation  to  that  sacrament 
were  opposed  to  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Ravenscroft,  and  it 
was  a  subject,  too,  in  whicli  he  took  a  very  great  interest,  he 
did  not  (contrary  to  the  received  opinion  of  his  fondness  for 
controversy)  enter  into  the  lists  with  them  as  a  public  oppo- 
nent. Circumstances,  however,  ultimately  brought  him  into 
collision  with  the  principal  writer  in  the  Repertory,  and  a 
long  and  interesting  private  correspondence  ensued  between 
them,  begun,  continued,  and  ended,  with  the  most  Christian 
temper  and  brotherly  love.  The  circumstances  referred  to, 
are  these:  A  lady  of  Fairfax  county,  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity of  which  the  Repertory  was  published,  distracted  proba- 
bly by  the  opposite  views  of  baptism,  which  she  found  in  the 
pages  of  that  work,  (for  the  Editors  candidly  admitted  con- 
tributions from  able  men  on  both  sides  of  the  question,)  ap- 
plied to  Mr.  Ravenscroft  by  letter  for  counsel  and  instruc- 
tion. This  he  did  not  hesitate  or  delay  to  give,  and  as  the 
subject  is  one  of  universal  and  paramount  interest,  his  letter 
in  reply  is  here  inserted. 

To  Mrs.  Robinson^  Fairfax  County^  Virginia. 

Makeshift,  11th  July,  1820. 
Dear  Madam: 

Your  favor  of  the  22d  June  was  received  on 
Saturday,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  I  take  the  first  spare 
hour  I  have  to  reply  to  it. 

Whatever  difficulty  yourself  and  many  others  may  labor 


MEMOIE.  27 

under  upon  this  subject,  proceeds  altogether  from  confound- 
ing two  subjects  altogether  distinct,  viz:  Regeneration  and 
Conversion:  both  to  be  sure  essential  to  us  as  sinners,  but  in 
a  manner  distinct  from  each  other. 

A  right  view  of  our  situation  as  fallen  creatures,  spiritually 
dead,  points  to  some  means  or  other  to  do  away  the  disabil- 
ity consequent  on  original  transgression,  and  render  us  capa- 
ble of  profiting  by  the  gracious  means  God  hath  provided  in 
his  Son  and  made  known  by  the  gospel.  This  is  the  starting 
place  to  us  on  every  thing  that  relates  to  religion.  Without 
this,  it  would  be  as  absurd  to  expect  any  motions  of  spiritual 
life,  or  any  capacity  of  spiritual  improvement,  as  for  a  body 
really  dead  to  move  and  act.  Regeneration^  then,  is  a  grace 
imparted  to  us  by  Almighty  God,  restoring,  to  some  extent, 
not  precisely  designated  in  Scripture,  that  capacity  for  spir- 
itual improvement  lost  by  the  fall;  which  puts  us  once  more 
upon  trial  as  it  were,  with  better  hopes,  more  effectual  means, 
and  surer  promises  ratified  in  the  blood  of  God's  dear  and 
only  Son.  In  this  work  of  God  upon  the  soul  we  are  purely 
passive.  It  is  a  grace^  or  rather  grace  imparted,  a  power 
communicated,  if  we  may  so  speak,  (for  language  is  very 
poor  in  many  things  relating  to  the  mystery  of  our  redemp- 
tion,) the  first  effect  of  Christ's  gracious  undertaking,  to  bear 
the  penalty  of  our  sins,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God. 

This  is  the  first  and  highest  sense  in  which  the  word  re- 
generation is  used,  and  may  with  sufficient  propriety  be 
called  a  being  horn  again,  but  more  properly  in  the  words  of 
the  apostle  Peter,  a  being  begotten  again. 

But  there  is  another  sense  in  which  the  word  regeneration 
is  used,  which  it  is  proper  to  notice;  and  that  is  in  its  appli- 
cation to  the  change  of  outward  condition,  which  takes  place 
when  we  become  openly  and  visibly  parties  to  the  new  cove- 
nant made  with  God  in  Christ. 

By  our  natural  birtli  we  are  parties  to  nothing  but  the  curse 
entailed  upon  sin;  our  birthright  is  onl}-  that  of  "strangers  to 
the  covenants  of  promise,"  "having  no  hope  and  without  God 
in  the  world."  And  would  we  have  this  destitute  state  re- 
moved, we  must,  in  that  manner  which  the  wisdom  of  God 
liath  seen  fit  to  appoint,  personally  subscribe  to  the  terms 
and  conditions  on  which  the  benefits  purchased  for  us  by  the 


28  MEMOIR. 

sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ  are  promised  and  as- 
sured. In  the  Old  Testament  Church,  God  was  pleased  to 
appoint  the  rite  of  circumcision  for  this  purpose;  by  which 
every  descendant  of  Abraliam  became  a  party  to  all  the  hopes 
which  the  promised  seed  of  the  woman  was  in  the  fulness  of 
time  to  bring  to  them  and  all  nations;  and  in  this  sense  it  is 
that  our  Saviour,  speaking  of  Jewish  children,  calls  them 
"those  little  ones  which  believe  in  him,  '  styling  them  he- 
lievers,  because  they  were,  by  circumcision,  ^^ai'ties  to  the 
covenant  made  with  him  as  the  representative  of  the  human 
race. 

In  the  New  Testament  Church,  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
is  the  appointed  and  only  means  to  change  our  condition  by 
nature,  and  bring  us  into  relation  with  God  as  heirs  of  the 
promise.  By  the  water  of  baptism,  and  by  that  only,  (to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  modes  and  means,  according  to  reve- 
lation,) can  we  obtain  an  interest  in  Christ,  by  being  admit- 
ted into  that  Churcii,  which  he  "purchased  with  his  own  most 
precious  blood."  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

In  both  these  senses  the  word  regeneration  is  used  in  our 
baptismal  service — first  as  an  expression  of  an  effect  pro- 
duced in  bestowing  spiritual  grace:  secondly  to  denote  a 
change  of  condition — that  those  rightlj^  baptized  are  "no 
more  strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow  citizens  with  the 
saints  and  of  the  household  of  God." 

A  careful  examination  of  the  office  for  Baptism  will  show 
you,  that  such  is  the  meaning  which  the  Church  attaches  to 
the  word  regenei'aiion:  and  if  attended  to  as  it  ought  to  be, 
would  not  only  prevent  the  confusion  of  mind  consequent  on 
confounding  regeneration  and  conversion,  but  restore  the  or- 
dinance itself  to  that  respect  in  the  eyes  of  Christians  to 
which  it  is  so  highly  entitled. 

In  the  sense  above  explained,  I  used  the  expression  "Laver 
of  regeneration,"  respecting  baptism — a  phrase  taken  from 
the  brazen  laver  mentioned  in  the  thirtieth  chapter  of  Exodus, 
verse  18th,  &c.,  in  which  the  priests  were  to  wash  before 
they  presented  any  offering  to  the  Lord;  the  whole  being  an 
emblem  of  that  purity  which  should  accompany  those  who 
are  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God,  which  children  certainly 


MEMOIK.  29 

are  in  baptism.  The  expression  I  think  warranted  by  what 
is  spoken  of  this  ordinance  and  its  etiects  in  the  epistles.  In 
that  to  Titus,  third  chapter  and  5th  verse,  St.  Paul  says, 
"Xot  by  works  of  rigjiteousness  which  we  have  done,  but 
according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regene- 
ration, and  rencM'ing  of  the  PIoly  Guost."  In  his  tirst  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  the  sixth  chapter,  and  11th  verse,  speaking 
of  the  effect  of  baptism  on  the  members  of  that  Church, 
"And  sucli  were  some  of  you,  but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are 
sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God."  And  to  the  Ephesians,  fifth 
chapter,  and  26th  verse,  speaking  of  the  love  of  Christ  to  his 
Church,  and  his  purpose  in  giving  himself  for  it,  "that  he 
might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water,  by 
the  word."  There  are  many  more  passages  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament which  apply  to  this  ordinance,  and  if  duly  considered, 
could  not  fail  to  impress  Christians  with  a  more  reverential 
sense  of  the  rite  itself,  and  of  the  blessings  and  obligations 
growing  out  of  it.  But  in  the  divisions  among  us,  and  from 
seeing  it  administered  by  any  and  every  person  who  chooses 
to  assume  the  ministerial  character,  yea,  moreover,  to  hear 
it  decried  and  deiided  by  some  in  its  application  to  infants 
of  believing  parents,  we  have  gradually  lost  sight  of  its  high 
purpose  in  the  Church — the  solemn  obligations  it  imposes 
are  lost  sight  of,  and  the  might}'  benefits  of  which  it  is  the 
seal,  have  dwindled  down  to  a  mere  ceremony  for  giving  a 
name.  A  more  solemn  sense  of  it,  I  trust,  is  entertained  by 
yourself  and  your  iiusband,  both  as  regards  yourselves  and 
your  children,  and  in  fulfilling  that  solemn  vow  under  which 
it  laid  you,  you  may  fully  ex])ect  God's  jjromised  blessing  on 
your  faithful  endeavor  to  "train  them  up  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord." 

Conversion^  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  consequence  of  re- 
pentance on  the  part  of  the  sinner — an  additional  grace  or 
favor  of  God,  known  only  to  the  gospel — a  provision  of  mercy 
through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  by  which  those  who  have 
abused  the  grace  conferred  in  regeneration,  and  by  personal 
sin  have  again  departed  from  God,  on  sincere  repentance  and 
renewed  obedience,  are  once  more  received  into  a  state  of  favor. 
In  this,  however,  we  are  not  passive,  inasmuch  as  the  warn- 


30  MEMOIK. 

ings  of  the  word,  and  the  admonitions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  are 
to  be  attended  to  and  improved,  seeing  it  is  a  matter  of  choice 
on  the  part  of  the  sinner  whether  he  will  be  moved  by  con- 
siderations of  religion  to  cease  i'rom  the  error  of  his  ways — to  ' 
turn  to  the  means  of  grace  provided  for  his  good  and  in 
obedience  to  the  convincing  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by 
hearty  repentance  and  true  faith  flee  to  the  cross  of  Christ 
for  pardon  and  acceptance,  and  for  renewed  power  to  love 
God  and  to  keep  his  commandments.  Of  this  every  con- 
verted sinner  must  have  the  experience,  for  such  cannot  but 
be  sensible  how  often  during  their  career  of  folly  and  rebel- 
lion, the  good  Spirit  of  God  interposed  to  stop  them,  and 
turn  them  from  the  broad  and  beaten  road  of  destruction,  to 
the  strait  and  narrow,  but  safe  way  thatleadeth  unto  life;  but 
they  would  not,  putting  away  from  them  his  gracious  checks 
and  admonitions,  and  stifling  and  quenching  his  good  motions 
within  them.  Oh,  what  miracles  of  grace,  what  j^atient  long- 
suflering  on  the  part  of  God  is  treasured  up  in  Christ  Jesus 
— especially  for  us  gospel  sinners!  Surely  God  "is  not  will- 
ing that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  re- 
pentance." 

This  letter  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  one  of  the  parties 
to  the  controversy  already  mentioned,  occasioned  a  further 
correspondence,  which  it  is  not  proposed  to  insert  here  at 
length.  An  extract  from  one  of  the  letters  of  Mr.  Havens- 
croft,  will,  perhaps,  sufiice  to  complete  the  view  of  his  opinions 
on  this  momentous  subject. 

"As  it  contributes  greatly  to  a  right  understanding  of  each 
other  in  discussions  of  this  kind,  to  explain  the  sense  and 
meaning  in  which  a  leading  word  or  phrase  is  made  use  of,  I 
shall  take  that  mode,  convinced  that  by  so  doing  little  or  no 
difl:erence  will  be  found  between  us,  and  if  there  should,  that 
it  will  be  the  readiest  way  to  attain  to  desired  and  desirable 
uniformity — for  I  think  I  can  truly  say  I  desire  to  know  the 
truth. 

By  the  Sacrament  of  Bajytism^  I  understand  a  mystery 
ordained  by  Christ  himself  in  his  Church,  of  perpetual  obli- 
gation and  essential  in  its  nature,  inasmuch  as  the  wilful  re- 
jection of  it  is  a  bar  to  the  salvation  of  the  gospel.    I  believe 


MEMOIK.  31 

it  to  be  the  only  revealed  means  by  which  a  child  of  Adam 
can  enter  into  covenant  with  God  in  Christ,  and  become  en- 
titled to  all  the  benefits  which  his  satisfaction  hath  procured 
for  sinners.  I  believe  it  a  seal  or  ratification  of  the  new 
covenant;  on  the  part  of  God,  a  visible  and  authentic  assu- 
rance transacted  by  his  -commissioned  servant,  his  ambas- 
sador, that  the  promises  made  in  that  covenant  are  and  will 
he  performed  on  his  part:  on  the  part  of  man,  an  open  under- 
standing and  thankful  acceptance  of  the  conditions  of  that 
covenant  as  declared  in  Christ  the  Mediator,  with  a  solemn 
and  public  promise  to  keep  and  fulfil  them. 

By  Regeneration^  I  understand  an  act  or  operation  of 
Almighty  God  in  behalf  of,  and  upon,  the  creature,  for  the 
communication  of  spiritual  power,  to  render  fallen  man  capable 
of  religion;  the  production  of  a  new  principle  which  was  not 
previously  in  man,  neither  could  be  attained  by  the  applica- 
tion of  any  power  left  to  him;  the  restoring  to  an  extent  not 
precisely  declared  in  Scripture,  nor  needful  to  be  known,  the 
spiritual  power,  or  qualification,  or  whatever  it  may  be  called, 
lost  by  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  required  to  put  him  once 
more  in  a  state  of  trial;  the  germ  of  any  and  every  religious 
attainment. 

This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  original  scriptural  ground,  on 
which  the  Church  connects  regeneration  with  baptism — not 
ill  the  judgment  of  charity^  as  you  contend,  but  absolutely 
and  virtually  flowing  from  the  promise,  as  connected  with 
the  ordinance.  For  the  promise  of  the  new  covenant  is,  "A 
new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  I  will  put  my  spirit  with- 
in you."  Now  the  question  is,  when  is  this  done?  The 
Church  assumes,  on  the  sure  ground  of  Scripture,  that  this 
blessing  is  conferred  in  Jjaptisrni  and  the  27th  Article  and 
the  Ofiice  for  baptism  are  framed  accordingly.  They  har- 
monize completely.  N"or  is  there  the  smallest  need  for  the 
exercise  of  charity,  to  enable  us  to  believe  that  a  gracious 
God,  having  been  pleased  to  connect  his  promise  with  a  sen- 
sible sign,  to  be  administered  only  b}^  the  authority  of  Cueist 
in  his  Church,  does  most  surely  fulfil  it. 

To  this  it  is  objected,  that  we  do  not  find  the  fact  verified 
by  experience; — all  baptized  persons,  even  those  baptized  in 
the  Church,  do  not  show  by  any  difterence  from  others  that 


32  MEMOIR. 

they  are  regenerate.  To  this  I  reply,  that  the  objection  is 
founded  on  the  mistaken,  though  popuhir,  meaning  attached 
to  the  word  regeneration^  and,  therefore,  is  not  a  good  one: 
or  it  is  founded  on  the  Calvinistical  notion  of  indefectible 
grace,  which  is  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Church — as  is  evident 
from  the  IGth  article, — nor  yet  the  doctrine  of  the  gosi^el. 
The  Churcii  declares  the  grace  given  in  baptism  to  be  an 
"inward,"  and,  therefore,  "invisible,  spiritual  grace:"  but  it 
is  not  on  that  account  the  less  real.  Neither  is  it  any  argu- 
ment against  the  fact,  that  the  majority  of  baptized  persons 
are  found  sinners  in  practice  even  as  others.  The  Church  is 
aware  of  this  melancholy  possibility,  and  guards  by  every 
means  against  it;  and  when  she  delivers  back  the  regenerate 
infant  to  those  who  have  undertaken  the  charge  of  its  spirit- 
ual growth,  she  takes  from  them  the  most  solemn  obligation 
accountable  creatures  can  enter  into,  to  foster  and  cherish  the 
seed  of  divine  grace  in  the  heart,  and  "train  up  the  child  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lokd."  When  this  shall 
be  done  in  the  spirit  of  the  institution,  and  the  same  unhappy 
result  attend  the  administration  of  the  ordinance,  then  will 
the  objection  be  a  good  one,  but  not  till  then. 

I,  therefore,  understand  the  Church,  in  the  Office  for  bap- 
tism, to  mean  what  the  words  convey — that  she  does  not  pre- 
tend to  confer  an  uncertain  or  conjectural  benefit  in  the  bap- 
tism w^hich  she  administers  by  the  authority  of  Christ;  that 
she  does  not  return  thanks  for  a  visionary  or  problematical 
blessing  conferred  on  the  infant  baptized,  depending  on  the 
judgment  of  charity  for  comfort  and  assurance  to  those  interest- 
ed; nor  yet  by  the  words  "they  that  receive  baptism  rightly," 
made  use  of  in  the  2Tth  Article,  do  I  understand  any  allusion 
to  the  state  of  the  parties  baptized,  as  worthy  or  unworthy, 
but  the  lawful  authority  to  administer  it,  on  which  its 
efficiency  altogether  depends." 


The  interest  that  Mr.  Ravenscroft  took  in  this  subject, 
"with  which  he  believed  the  whole  frame  and  polity  of  the 
Church  to  be  connected,"  was  so  great,  and  the  importance 
of  a  right  understanding  of  it  was  in  his  view  so  paramount, 


MEMOIR. 


that  the  foregoing  extracts  have  been  given  at  the  hazard  of 
their  being  thought  to  occupy  an  undue  space  in  this  memoir. 
It  is  a  subject,  too,  not  only  important,  but  according  to  his 
opinion  greatly  neglected,  and  the  space  may  not  be  mis- 
spent, which  is  occupied  in  recording  his  sentiments  in  rela- 
tion to  it.  "It  is  not  to  be  disguised,"  he  says  at  the  close  of 
his  controversial  correspondence,  "that  many  among  us  have 
become  loose  on  the  subject  of  bajjtism.  The  solemn  influ- 
ential character  belonging  to  it,  is  nearly  lost  sight  of.  The 
use  is  declining  from  day  to  day,  so  that  from  a  sacrament  it 
is  dwindling  down  to  a  mere  ceremony  for  naming  a  child. 
Let  us  endeavor  to  bring  back  parents  and  sponsors  to  a  right 
understanding  of  their  solemn  duty  under  the  baptismal 
covenant;  and  surely  no  argument  can  be  stronger  to  produce 
this  serious  sense  of  that  duty,  than  the  consideration  that 
they  receive  from  the  hands  of  the  Church,  a  little  creature, 
now  in  covenant  with  God,  prepared  to  profit  by  instruction, 
to  repay  their  anxious  love  with  piety  in  time,  and  glory  in 
eternity." 

In  the  year  1823,  Mr,  Eavenscroft  received  an  invitation 
to  take  charge  of  the  large  and  flourishing  congregation  at 
Norfolk.  Not  conceiving  that  any  call  of  duty  accompanied 
this  invitation,  he  promptly  declined  it,  "as  nothing  in  the 
shape  of  emolument  could  move  him  from  where  he  was, 
and  induce  him  to  sacrifice  his  predilections  and  attachment 
to  his  own  little  flock."  Shortly  afterwards,  however,  he  re- 
ceived a  call  from  the  vestry  of  the  Monumental  Church,  in 
Richmond,  to  be  the  assistant  to  the  venerable  Bishoj)  Moore, 
who  had  charge  of  that  congregation.  Regarding  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Bishop,  which  were  seriously  interrupted  and 
hindered  by  his  large  parochial  charge,  as  too  valuable  to  the 
diocese  to  be  lost  through  any  impediment  opj)osed  by  his 
private  inclinations,  Mr.  Ravenscroft  was  preparing  to  yield 
to  what  he  considered  as  an  imperative  call  of  duty,  and  to 
accept  this  invitation,  when  a  call  of  a  yet  more  imperative 
nature  reached  him  from  another  quarter,  which  his  con- 
science, that  great  master-spring  to  all  his  actions,  at  once 
forbade  him  to  reject. 

The  Church  in  North  Carolina  had  shared  the  same  fate, 
during  the  Revolutionary  war,  that  had  involved  all  other 
j;Yo1.  1,— •^■■•3.] 


34  MEMOIR. 

portions  of  it  in  this  country  in  so  much  gloom  and  depres- 
sion. The  violent  prejudices  (to  the  injustice  of  which  it  is 
hardly  necessary  now  to  recur)  which  had  brought  odium 
and  persecution  upon  its  ministers  elsewhere,  existed  here  in 
their  full  vigor.  The  eifect,  indeed,  of  these  prejudices  seems 
to  have  been  more  remarkable  in  North  Carolina  than  any 
where  else.  Tlje  cry  of  "Down  with  it,  down  with  it  even  to 
the  ground,"  accomplished  the  wishes  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Church;  and  long  after  Zion  had  arisen  from  the  dust,  and 
put  on  her  beautiful  garments,  in  other  portions  of  her  bor- 
ders, her  children  here  had  still  to  weep  when  they  remem- 
bered her. 

It  was  not  until  the  year  1817,  that  the  three  clergymen 
who  had  but  recently  been  called  to  the  towns  of  Fayetteville, 
Wilmington,  and  Newbern,  encouraged  by  some  influential 
laymen  in  the  two  first  mentioned  towns,  proposed  a  conven- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  Church  in  this  State. 
A  Convention  was  accordingly  held  in  Newbern,  in  the  month 
of  June  of  that  year,  attended  by  three  clergymen  and  six  or 
eight  lay  delegates;  when  a  constitution  was  adopted,  and  an 
address  made  to  tlie  friends  of  the  Church  throughout  the 
State,  proposing  a  second  Convention  in  the  ensuing  year. 
This  second  Convention  was  more  numerously  attended  than 
the  former,  and  the  Church  from  that  time  continued  rapidly 
to  increase — or,  to  speak  more  properly,  perhaps — to  revive 
from  her  long  and  deadly  torpor. 

Under  the  patriarclial  supervision  of  tlie  venerable  Bishop 
of  Virginia,  who  was  invited  by  the  Convention  to  take 
episcopal  charge  of  the  diocese,  this  increase  assumed  a  sta- 
ble and  progressive  character,  and  within  six  years  from  the 
time  of  the  first  Convention,  there  were  twenty-five  congre- 
gations attached  to'the  Church.  This  numerical  force,  how- 
ever, exhibits  rather  an  exaggerated  view  of  the  real  condi- 
tion of  the  diocese.  Some  well-meaning  but  injudicious  mis- 
sionaries, under  the  influence  of  that  fervor  of  feeling  usually 
attendant  upon  a  state  of  prosperity,  had  formed  nominal 
congregations  where  there  were  in  fact  very  few  or  no  Epis- 
copalians. Bishop  Moore's  engagements  in  Yirginia,  both 
to  the  diocese  and  to  Iiis  parisli,  never  allowed  him  time  to 
visit  these  congregations,  and  discover  their  actual  condition- 


MEMOIR.  35 

and  after  remaiuine;  some  time  unfruitful  branches  of  the 
maiji  stock,  and  appearing  from  a  distance  to  add  to  its 
strength,  they  at  length  withered  and  fell  oiF,  from  the  want 
of  that  vital  principle  which  they  liad  never  possessed.  And 
even  in  tlie  more  established  and  better  informed  congrega- 
tions, there  were  many  individuals  who  had  attached  them- 
selves to  the  Church  from  motives  entirely  distinct  from  a 
discerning  and  rational  preference  for  her  peculiar  character. 
Hereditary  j^redilections,  convenience,  and  accidental  cir- 
cumstances, afforded  a  suflicient  motive  with  many;  while 
comparatively  iew  had  been  led  to  a  candid  examination,  and 
a  consequent  acknowledgment  of  lier  distinctive  claims. 

The  number  of  clergymen  was  small,  in  proportion  to  the 
extent  of  country  over  which  the  friends  of  the  Church  were 
scattered;  and  even  of  that  small  number,  there  were  some 
who,  acting  under  that  notion  of  charity  which  teaches  us  to 
shrink  from  the  search  of  truth,  lest,  when  found,  it  should 
show  our  neighbor  to  be  in  error,  avoided  the  urging  of 
claims  which  were  unpalatable  to  so  many. 

These  spots  of  unsoundness  in  a  body  otherwise  healthy 
and  vigorous,  evidently  required  excision;  and  the  more  in- 
telligent friends  of  the  Church  began  to  look  around  for  some 
skilful  and  steady  hand  to  which  the  operation  should  be  in- 
trusted. The  peculiar  state  of  feeling  engendered  by  the  ex- 
istence of  these  loose  opinions,  both  in  the  members  of  the 
Church  themselves  and  in  others,  obviously  demanded  that 
•  he  agent  of  reform  should  possess  nerve,  as  well  as  skill,  and 
not  be  deterred  from  his  duty,  either  by  the  reproaches  of 
the  looker-on,  or  by  the  timidity  and  alarms  of  the  patient. 
The  character  of  Mr.  Ravenscroft,  (for  he  was  at  this  time 
personally  known  to  but  one  *clergyman  in  the  diocese,)  as 
exemplified  by  the  manner  and  success  of  his  preaching,  ap- 
peared to  be  happily  adapted  to  this  emergency.  Ardent  in 
})is  personal  piety,  zealous  in  preaching  the  Gospel  in  its  ut- 
most purity,  disinterested  in  all  his  aims,  and  possessing  in 
no  ordinary  degree  talents  for  pulpit  and  pastoral  usefulness, 
it  was  believed  that  the  uncompromising  firmness  with  which 
he  held  and  preached  the  whole  of  God's  revealed  will,  M'ould 
at  least  receive  the  meed  of  praise  for  •  sincerity  and  single^ 

*Rev.  W.  M.  Green. 


36 


MEMOIK. 


heartedness,  even  from  his  opponents;  while  the  sheep  of  his 
own  fold  would  be  reclaimed  from  those  mazes  of  error  and 
ignorance  into  which  other  shepherds  might  not  have  had 
the  hardihood  to  follow  them.  This  view  of  Mr.  Eavens- 
croft's  fitness  for  the  station,  operating  upon  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Convention  of  1823,  and  a  high  respect  for  his 
character  as  a  Christian  and  a  minister,  influencing  others, 
he  was  unanimously  elected  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  North 
Carolina,  at  a  Convention  held  in  Salisbury,  and  attended  by 
all  tlie  clergy  and  an  unusually  full  delegation  of  laymen. 
He  did  not  hesitate  in  accepting  a' call  which  he  regarded  as 
being  in  a  peculiar  manner  a  providential  one.  Personally 
known  to  scarcely  an  individual  of  the  Convention  which  had 
unanimously  elected  him  Bishop,  it  seemed  to  him  "as  if  the 
hand  of  Providence  was  in  it;"  and  though  the  same  distrust 
of  himself,  that  had  awakened  in  liim  so  many  doubts  respect- 
ing his  fitness  for  the  ministry  at  all,  _vet  operated  in  making 
him  lay  aside  all  self-reliance,  the  same  submission  to  the 
leadings  of  his  great  Master,  and  the  same  confiding  trust  in 
his  sustaining  grace,  made  him  determine  at  once  to  follow 
the  difficult  path  now  opened  to  him.  His  election  having 
preceded  the  sitting  of  the  General  Convention  but  a  few 
weeks,  he  was  furnished  with  the  requisite  testimonial  to  be 
laid  before  that  body  preparatory  to  his  consecration,  and 
accordingly  received  his  high  commission,  in  the  city  of  Phil- 
adelphia, on  the  22d  day  of  April  1823,  at  the  hands  of  the 
venerable  Bishop  White, — Bishops  Griswold,  Kemp,  Croes, 
Bowen,  and  Brownell,  being  also  present,  and  assisting. 

The  pecuniary  ability  of  the  Church  in  North  Carolina  be- 
ing but  limited,  the  Convention  in  ofifering  what  they  were 
able  to  give,  allowed  to  Mr.  Ravenscroft  the  privilege  of  de- 
voting one-half  of  his  time  to  the  service  of  a  parish,  so  that 
the  conjoined  means  of  the  Diocese  and  the  parish  might  af- 
ford a  decent  and  adequate  income.  The  neglect  of  his  pri- 
vate affairs,  which  has  already  been  hinted  at,  proceeding 
from  Mr.  Ravenscroft 's  engrossing  attention  to  his  ministerial 
duties,  added  to  some  losses  sustained  by  him  as  surety  for 
others,  had  now  reduced  his  once  ample  means  so  much,  that 
he  was  obliged  to  avail  himself  of  this  privilege;  and  the  con- 
gregation at  Raleigh  inviting  him  to  take  the  pastoral  charge 


ilEMOIR.  37 

of  them,  he  consented  to  do  so,  and  immediately  upon  his 
return  from  Philadelphia  began  his  preparations  for  removal. 
Knowing,  however,  how  urgent  the  wants  of  the  Church 
were,  he  did  not  wait  for  the  completion  of  his  preparations, 
but  set  out  on  his  first  Episcopal  tour  in  June,  within  one 
month  after  his  consecration.  It  would  extend  this  memoir 
to  an  undue  length  to  enter  into  a  minute  narration  of  Bishoj) 
Ravenscroft's  movements  in  this,  or  indeed  in  any  of  liis 
subsequent  visitations;  it  is  designed  only  to  give  such  occa- 
sional extracts  from  his  private  journal  and  correspondence, 
as  are  either  instructive  in  point  of  doctrine,  or  more  than 
ordinarily  interesting  in  point  of  fact. 

One  of  Bishop  Ravenscroft's  earliest  endeavors  after  as- 
suming the  care  of  his  Diocese,  was  to  impress  upon  both  his 
clergy  and  the  people  of  their  charge,  a  proper  estimation  of 
the  sacrament  of  Baptism,  and  its  consequent,  the  apostolic 
rite  of  confirmation.  These  he  regarded  as  the  threshold  of 
the  Church,  and  when  duly  administered  and  worthily  re- 
ceived, would  guard  the  body  of  the  Church  from  the  intru- 
sion of  the  unprepared.  "I  consider,"  says  he,  in  a  letter  to 
one  of  liis  clergy,  "in  general  terms,  Confirmation  equivalent 
to  a  pi'ofession  of  religion  on  conviction  and  experience." 
And  to  another  he  says,  "from  the  nature  of  things,  it  is  im- 
possible that  I  can  have  any  knowledge  of  the  qualifications 
of  tiie  persons  who  ofier  themselves  for  Confirmation.  I  must 
therefore  depend  entirely  upon  your  diligence  in  preparing, 
and  faithfulness  in  presenting  those  only  of  your  charge  who 
have  a  just  view  of  the  rite,  and  are  properly  impressed  with 
the  obligations  growing  out  of  it,  and  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived from  it.  Much  obloquy  has  heretofore  grown  out  of 
the  easiness  with  which  candidates  for  confirmation  have 
been  presented  and  received  by  the  Church,  and  occasion 
]\as  thence  been  taken  against  us  by  our  opponents.  This  I  feel 
extremely  anxious  to  avoid,  and  as  no  lax  habits  in  this  respect 
liave  yet  obtained  in  the  Diocese,  so  to  commence  and  con- 
tinue by  the  blessing  of  God,  that  they  may  be  prevented 
from  creeping  in."  His  views  on  Baptism  have  been  already 
given  at  large,  and  need  not  be  here  repeated. 

During  his  first  visitation,  and  in  the  interval  occurring 


38  MEMOIE. 

between  it  and  the  ensuing  Convention,  the  Bishop  discov- 
ered in  its  full  extent  the  actual  condition  of  the  Church,  as 
it  has  already  been  described.  He  saw,  that  as  a  faithful 
overseer,  it  was  his  duty,  however  painful  it  might  be  to  him- 
self, and  however  offensive  to  others,  to  correct  the  mistakes 
into  which  so  many  of  his  flock  had  fallen — to  apprise  them 
of  the  duties  resulting  from  their  connexion  with  a  Church 
which  was  founded  upon  the  primitive  model,  and  to  open 
their  eyes  to  that  delusive  notion  of  charity,  which,  in  its 
natural  consequences,  must  eventually  lead  to  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  all  error.  He  accordingly  opened  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  first  Convention  after  his  consecration  with  a  ser- 
mon containing  his  views  and  opinions  regarding  the  Church, 
and  the  most  efficient  means  of  promoting  its  increase  and 
prospei'ity,  and  unreservedly  communicating  the  details  of 
the  course  which  he,  as  its  guardian  and  Bishop,  meant  to 
pursue.  The  stand  wliich  he  took  upon  this  occasion,  and 
which  he  maintained  during  his  whole  Ei:)iscopacy,  was  per- 
haps somewhat  higher  than  would  have  accorded  with  his 
wishes,  had  he  not  been  feelingly  alive  to  the  solemn  respon- 
sibility which  his  peculiar  situation  imposed  upon  him.  As 
the  Bishop  of  a  new  diocese,  which  had  never  enjoyed  regu- 
lar Episcopal  ministrations,  and  where  there  consequently 
existed  much  looseness  of  opinions,  and  indeed  ignorance, 
respecting  the  real  nature  and  divine  character  of  the  Church, 
he  felt  himself  called  to  a  more  than  ordinary  circumspection 
and  fidelity.  The  future  condition  of  the  diocese  was  to  be 
determined  in  a  great  degree  by  the  character  it  was  to  as- 
sume under  liis  forming  hand;  while  her  clergy,  with  a  reli- 
ance upon  him  which  his  eminent  piety  and  great  talents 
demanded,  seemed  to  confide  the  control  of  ecclesiastical  af- 
faii's  almost  exclusively  to  him,  and  to  be  ready  to  pursue 
whatever  course  his  powerful  mind  and  more  enlarged  op- 
portunities of  judging  of  t)ie  wants  of  the  diocese  might  in- 
dicate. Acting  under  a  sense  of  obligation  resulting  from 
these  several  causes,  after  instructing  his  clergy  in  the  first 
place^  to  i)reach,  "the  entire  spiritual  death  and  alienation 
of  man  from  God,  by  the  entertainment  of  sin;  the  reconcili- 
ation of  God  to  the  world,  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  his 
only  l)egotten  Son;  the  atonement  of  his  blood;  justification 


i 


MEMom.  39 

by  fiiith;  acceptance  throngli  the  merits  of  the  Saviour;  con- 
version of  the  lieart  to  God;  holiness  of  life,  the  only  evidence 
()f  it;  and  the  grace  of  God,  in  the  renewal  of  tlie  Holt 
Ghost,  the  sole  agent  from  first  to  last  in  working  out  our 
salvation  from  sin  here,  and  from  hell  hereafter" — he  pro- 
ceeds to  point  out  tliat  kind  of  preaching  which  was  further 
required  of  them  by  the  peculiar  condition  of  the  diocese: 
"But,  with  these  vital,  and  heaven-blessed  doctrines,  other 
points  of  edification  to  those  of  your  charge,  and  to  your  gen- 
eral hearers,  wall  require  your  attenti<.m,  my  reverend  bro- 
thers; particularly  that  of  the  distinctive  character  of  the 
Church.  On  this,  a  most  lamentable  ignorance  prevails,  and 
most  unfounded  opinions  are  becoming  established,  not  only 
among  Episcopalians,  but  at  large.  To  j^ermit  this  ignorance 
to  continue  undisturbed,  is  to  be  false  to  our  ordination  vows, 
to  our  acknowledged  principles,  to  the  interests  of  our  com- 
munion, and  to  the  souls  committed  to  our  care;  and  however 
amiable  in  appearance  the  principle  on  which  we  act  may 
be,  reflection  shows  it  to  be  a  mistaken  one,  and  experience 
proves  it  to  have  been  injurious.  If  we  hold  principles  that 
are  indefensible,  let  us  abandon  them.  But  if  they  are  our 
principles,  interwoven  into  the  very  frame  of  our  polit}',  im- 
pregnaltle  in  their  truth,  and  essential  in  the  great  work  we 
have  in  hand,  let  us  not  appear  ashamed  of  them,  or  weakly 
afraid  of  the  consequences,  and  thus  become  parties  to  that 
miserable  delusion,  which  weakens  us  as  a  body,  strengtliens 
the  ranks  of  our  adversaries,  and,  I  will  fearlessly  say,  weak- 
ens the  cause  of  true  religion,  by  tacitly  owning  one  divi- 
sion after  another,  until  the  great  master  principle  of  the 
Church  of  God,  its  unity,  is  merged  in  the  mass  of  Christian 
names,  and  swallowed  up  by  the  indifference  and  infidelity 
thus  fostered." 

Such  was  the  rule  of  preaching  prescribed  b}'^  Bishop  Ra- 
venscroft  in  his  first  oflicial  sermon,  and  it  ma}'  be  consid- 
ered as  descriptive  of  the  course  wliich  Jie  ever  afterwards 
pursued  himself,  and  expected  of  his  clergy.  While  on  all 
occasions  he  preached  with  earnestness  tlie  doctrine  of  "sal- 
vation by  grace,  through  faith,"  he  deemed  it  no  less  his  du- 
ty  to  preacli  tlie  divinely  instituted  means  for  the  attainment 
of  this  end.-    He  rejected  as  presumptuous  the  distinction 


40 


MEMOIR. 


made  between  tLe  essentials  and  the  non-essentials  of  the 
p:<»spel,  and  felt  himself  constrained  alike  to  obey  and  to  teach 
all  the  requirements  of  God's  revealed  will.  In  the  view 
which  the  bishop  took  of  the  character  of  the  Church,  and  of 
the  course  which  his  vows  as  a  Christian  minister  would  com- 
pel him  to  pursue,  he  was  sustained  by  the  concurrence  of  a 
large  majority  of  his  diocese,  and  of  all  his  clergy,  with  one 
exception.  The  difference  between  that  gentleman  and  the 
bishop  was  so  fundamental,  and  the  objections  to  the  Church 
on  the  part  of  the  former  were  so  conscientiously  entertained, 
and  so  deeply  rooted,  that  they  eventuated  in  his  voluntary 
secession,  notwithstanding  the  very  great  reluctance  with 
which  the  bishop  parted  with  him. 

Much  calumny  against  Bishop  Ravenscroft  resulted  from 
this  circumstance,  and  as  he,  from  delicate  motives,  shrunk 
from  a  vindication  of  his  conduct  during  his  life,  justice  to 
his  memory  requires  that  it  should  here  be  made.  It  will  be 
seen  that  he  was  wholly  passive  in  the  business,  and  that  the 
clergyman  alluded  to  withdrew  from  the  Church  in  conse- 
quence of  long  established  opinions,  while  the  official  part 
which  the  bishop  had  necessarily  to  act  was  characterized  by 
the  utmost  kindness  and  courtesy.  This  can  be  sufficiently 
shown  by  a  few  extracts  from  the  letters  of  that  gentleman, 
without  making  public  the  whole  correspondence.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  convention  of  1824  the  bishop  received  a  letter 
of  which  the  following  are  extracts: 

"My  views  on  many  points  are  so  different  from  yours — 
the  sentiments  proclaimed  in  your  convention  sermon  are  so 
repugnant  to  my  feelings,  that  I  cannot  co-operate  in  the 
maintenance  and  propagation  of  them." — "I  look  upon  all 
other  denominations  as  branches  of  Christ's  Church  equally 
with  Episcopalians." — "But  as  you  are  so  decidedl}'^  of  an  op- 
posite opinion,  there  seems  to  be  no  hope  of  a  cordial  con- 
currence between  us  in  the  promotion  of  the  particular  interest 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  I  would,  therefore,  rather  with- 
draw from  this  station;"  meaning  his  parish.  In  a  subse- 
quent letter  the  writer  says,  "You  speak  of  your  disposition 
to  render  my  way  easy  and  comfortable.  I  suppose  you  al- 
lude to  your  assenting  to  my  retirement,  if  I  insist  on  it.  I 
am  still  disposed  to  drop  alj.  ministerial  functions  for  a  short 


MEMOIK.  41 

time."  "You  ask  me  whether  I  am  prepared  to  say  that  my 
ordination  vows  were  taken  upon  me  without  due  considera- 
tion? I  certainly  was  ordained  more  hastily  than  I  should 
have  been,  had  it  been  left  to  my  own  choice.  When  I  was 
questioned  about  my  views  on  the  subject  of  episcopacy,  I 
answered  that  I  knew  nothing  about  it;  and  if  the  examina- 
tion had  been  as  strict  as  such  examinations  ought  to  be,  they 
would  have  advised  me  to  delay."  The  following  extracts 
will  show  the  sense  of  the  writer  in  regard  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  correspondence  was  conducted  by  the  Bishop:  "I 
owe  you  my  thanks  for  the  sincere  kindness  which  marks 
your  whole  communication,  and  which  would  sooner  disarm 
my  resolution  than  any  remarks  of  a  different  character."  "I 
repeat  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  kind  expressions  and  true 
friendship  which  your  letter  breathes."  "Your  tone  of  uni- 
form kindness,  and  the  brotherly  tenderness  with  which  you 
and  my  other  friends  are  disposed  to  treat  me,  deserve  my 
gratitude;  and  if  I  were  to  consult  feeling  alone,  as  you  seem 
to  imply,  my  strongest  resolutions  would  be  almost  ready  to 
melt  away  before  such  treatment.  Every  such  letter  disposes 
me  to  say  with  St.  Paul,  'What  mean  ye  to  weep  and  break 
mine  heart.' " 

The  Bishop  was  preparing  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  this 
gentleman  in  permitting  him  to  leave  the  church,  when  ano- 
ther letter  from  him  announced  an  intention  of  offering  him- 
self to  the  congregation  of  which  he  was  pastor,  as  an  inde- 
pendent minister,  a  step  which,  if  successful,  would  of  course 
involve  their  separation  from  the  Church,  as  well  as  his  own. 
This  only  rendered  that  necessary  as  an  act  of  discipline, 
which  the  Bishop  was  about  to  accede  to,  in  compliance  with 
the  desire  of  the  interested  party;  and  the  latter  was  accord- 
ingly displaced  from  the  ministry  with  the  usual  and  neces- 
sary forms. 

The  fatigue  and  exposure  incident  to  the  situation  in  which 
the  Bishop  was  now  placed,  added  to  the  anxiety  of  mind 
necessarily  attending  it,  began  very  soon  to  make  an  impres- 
sion upon  his  once  robust  frame  and  vigorous  constitution, 
and  during  the  whole  of  the  second  winter  after  his  removal 
to  Korth  Carolina,  he  was  confined  by  illness.     Besides  "the 


«SS  MEMOIR. 

care  of  all  the  Churches,"  which,  to  a  mind  so  solicitous  as 
his,  respecting  every  thing  tliat  concerned  their  well  being, 
was  a  source  of  constant  and  corroding  anxiety,  the  mere 
physical  labor  of  his  annual  visitations  was  very  great.  The 
farthest  western  congregation  was  more  than  three  hundred 
miles  distant  from  the  most  eastern  one,  and  yet,  long  after 
disease  had  establislicd  its  empire  in  his  enfeebled  frame,  he 
punctually  and  resolutely  made  his  yearly  visits  to  both,  and 
it  was  not  until  he  became  utterly  incapable  of  travelling,  a 
short  time  previously  to  his  death,  that  he  discontinued  them. 
United  to  tliese  labors  Avere  liis  laborious  and  zealous  services 
to  his  congregation  at  Raleigh  as  a  parish  priest,  occupying 
the  whole  of  his  time  not  devoted  to  his  active  Episcopal  du- 
ties. 

But  even  his  hours  of  sickness  and  confinement  were  not 
hours  of  idleness.  Just  before  his  fii-st  illness  he  had  been 
invited  to  prcacli  before  the  Bible  Society  at  its  annual  meet- 
ing, in  December,  at  the  city  of  Raleigh,  although  he  had 
openly  expressed  his  disapprobation  of  one  feature  in  the 
constitution  of  the  society.  Availing  himself  of  tlie  occasion, 
he  explained  his  ••1)joctions,  and  gave  in  general  his  views  of 
the  proper  principle  upon  which  Bible  Societies  should  be 
founded  to  be  most  efficient  in  their  operations.  This  sermon 
having  been  published,  elicited  very  severe  animadversions 
from  various  quarters,  and  eventually  attracted  the  notice  of 
a  celebrated  professor  of  tl'cology  in  Virginia.  That  gentle- 
man in  his  strictures  upon  the  serni<jn,  and  the  publications 
arising  out  of  it,  having  assailed  the  Church  of  which  Bishop 
Ravenscroft  was  a  meinber  and  a  minister,  the  Bishop  felt 
himself  imperiously  called  upon  to  stand  forth  to  vindicate 
it  from  his  aspersions.  Timugh  worn  by  a  severe  and  pro- 
tracted illness,  the  result  of  his  labors  was  a  masterly  and 
triumphant  vindication  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  This 
able  controversial  tract  v/ill  1)e  found  in  this  volume,  and  will 
be  alike  valuable  to  the  learned  churchman  and  to  the  un- 
learned Christian;  ti»  the  former,  as  a  clear  and  comprelien- 
sive  summary  of  tlie  learned  labors  of  the  fathers,  and  the 
brightest  luminaries  of  the  Church;  to  the  latter,  as  a  plain 
and  irrefragalilc  argument,  establishing  the  divine  authenti- 
city of  those  ministratif^ns  upon  which  he  relics  as  means  for 
his  spiritual  sustenance. 


MEMOIR.  48 

The  Bishop's  health  was  never  perfectly  renovated  after 
this  first  severe  attack,  but  his  constitution,  originally  hardy 
and  vigorous,  frequently  rallied  and  restored  him  to  his  usual 
activity;  the  dedication  of  whicli  intervals  to  his  Episcopal 
labors  would  in  turn  reduce  him  for  a  time  to  sickness  and 
confinement.  Tlie  last  three  or  four  years  of  his  life  consist- 
ed almost  wholly  of  these  alternations  of  suifcring  sickness  at 
home  and  active  industry  abroad.  From  the  journal  of  one 
of  his  visitations  to  the  western  part  of  the  diocese,  we  make 
the  following  interesting  extract: 

"August  12, 1S2T — Sunday — I  attended  the  services  of  the 
Moravian  brethren  iniliis  place,  (Salem,)  which  commenced 
in  the  chapel  of  the  female  school  at  half-past  eight  in  the 
morning,  and  was  performed  in  English — by  singing  accom- 
panied with  the  organ — extempore  prayer  standing — and  a 
short  discourse  from  Revelations  iii.  11.  The  school  is  very 
numerous,  and  great  order  and  uniformity  is  maintained. 

"At  ten  o'clock  the  services  commenced  in  the  church,  by 
singing,  accompanied  with  the  organ  and  other  instruments. 
The  line  is  given  out  by  the  minister,  and  all  sing  sitting. 
After  tlie  singing,  their  Bisliop,  by  name  Benade,  preached 
sitting,  and  witli  great  fluency  and  force — though  in  the  Ger- 
man language,  and,  therefore,  not  understood  by  me  and  the 
other  visiters.  After  the  discourse,  prayer  was  made,  at 
which  the  congregation  stood,  after  which  tliey  sung  and  were 
dismissed.  After  the  services  I  was  asked  into  the  vestry 
room,  and  introduced  to  the  Bishoj)  and  one  of  his  presby- 
ters, but  had  no  oijportunity  for  conversation,  beyond  that  of 
civility.  It  being  a  festival-day  commemonitive  of  some  re- 
markable event  in  their  history,  the  Bishop's  time  was  very 
limited. 

"At  one  o'clock  their  love  feast  was  held,  to  which  I  was 
invited,  and  attended.  At  this  there  were  no  other  services 
than  the  singing  of  a  jubilee  psalm  in  parts,  by  the  choir  and 
congregation,  accompanied  with  the  instrumental  music, 
during  which  there  was  handed  to  every  individual  present, 
a  round  cake  or  kind  of  light  bun,  and  a  half  pint  mug  of 
coft'ee,  which  was  partaken  of  by  all  during  the  singing,  as 
each  was  disposed.  Thu  parts  performed  by  the  choir  were 
executed  standing,  in  opposite  galleries;  the  congregation 
sang  sitting;  at  the  close  all  stood  to  sing  the  hallelujah. 


44r  JIEMOm. 

"After  the  love-feast,  I  had  another  interview  with  Bishop 
Benade  in  the  vestry  room,  w]jen  he  informed  me  the  commu- 
nion would  be  administered  after  an  interval  of  about  two 
hours,  say  half  past  three  o'clock,  at  which  I  could  attend, 
either  as  a  spectator  or  a  communicant.  To  this  I  replied, 
that  though  curiosity  was  in  part  the  cause  of  my  visit  to 
Salem,  yet  it  was  not  the  sole  cause,  it  being  my  real  desire, 
as  we  were  the  only  two  Episcopal  Churches  in  America, 
which  could  and  would  acknowledge  each  other,  (for  the 
Romanists  presented  an  insuperable  bar,)  to  know  more  of 
them,  and  let  them  know  more  of  us.  If,  therefore,  I  was 
present  it  would  be  as  a  communicant;  and  I  must  accord- 
ingly request  information  as  to  the  mode  of  administering. 
This  was  immediately  explained  to  me,  and  there  being  no- 
thing in  my  judgment  unscriptural,  or  inconsistent  with  the 
essentials  of  a  sacrament,  I  concluded  to  commune  with  them. 
At  the  appointed  hour,  the  Church  (meaning  thereby  the 
communicants)  assembled,  amounting  to  upwards  of  two  hun- 
dred persons,  and  at  a  signal  given  by  the  bell,  the  vestry 
room  door  was  opened,  the  organ  began  a  solemn  voluntary, 
and  the  Bishop  with  the  priests  and  deacon  walked  up  to  the 
altar,  carrying  the  bread  in  two  baskets,  covered  with  a  white 
linen  cloth,  themselves  habited  in  white  surplices,  bound 
round  the  loins  with  a  broad  girdle.  The  wine  was  pre- 
viously placed  upon  the  altar  in  six  decanters,  with  glass 
mugs  to  distribute  it.  The  altar  was  covered  with  white 
drapery,  ornamented  with  festoons  of  artificial  flowers. 

"On  the  Bishop's  taking  the  chair,  lie  gave  out  the  line  of 
a  hymn,  which  was  sung  by  the  people  to  the  organ,  &c.  He 
then  delivered  a  short  exhortation,  and  proceeded  to  the  con- 
secration of  the  elements,  which  was  exactly  similar  to  our 
own  mode,  in  the  recitation  of  Scripture,  and  the  laying  of 
his  hand  on  the  bread,  and  on  the  wine,  previously  poured 
into  the  mugs. 

"When  the  consecration  was  finished,  a  priest,  attended 
by  a  deacon  bearing  the  bread  on  the  right  side  of  the  altar, 
and  another  priest  attended  by  a  deaconess  with  the  bread 
on  the  left  side  thereof,  proceeded  to  administer  to  the  com- 
municants in  this  wise.  The  bread  was  prepared  very  white 
and  thin,  unleavened,  and  in  oblong  shapes,  sufficient  for  two 


MEMOIK. 


45 


portions.  On  coming  to  me,  to  whom  it  was  first  presented, 
the  deacon  handed  one  of  the  pieces  to  the  priest,  who  brake 
it,  and  administered  to  two  at  a  time,  nntil  the  whole  Church 
had  received,  each  row  of  seats  rising. np  to  receive,  and 
again  sitting  down  holding  the  bread  in  their  hands.  "When 
the  communicants  were  all  served,  the  baskets  were  returned 
to  the  altar,  when  the  Bishop  and  clergy  having  taken  the 
bread  likewise,  the  organ  ceased,  and  all  knelt  down  in  silence 
and  ate  the  bread.  A  due  portion  of  time  was  appropriated 
to  private  devotion,  and  towards  the  close  the  organ  struck  a 
most  solemn  strain,  to  which  the  communicants  all  responded 
in  a  verse  of  a  hymn  sung  upon  their  knees. 

"When  this  was  tinished,  all  rose  up  and  the  cup  was  then 
distributed,  each  drinking  and  handing  to  his  neighbor — the 
deacons  attending  to  replenish,  and  to  pass  it  from  one  row 
of  seats  to  another.  The  ceremony  was  concluded  with  a 
hymn  of  praise,  and  dismission  of  the  congregation,  I  pre- 
sume with  the  apostolic  benediction:  and  all  I  have  to  regret 
is,  that  I  was  a  stranger  to  their  language. 

"At  half  past  seven  the  services  again  commenced,  and 
were  precisely  similar  to  those  in  the  forenoon.  One  of  the 
priests  delivered  the  sermon,  being  the  same  whom  I  heard 
in  the  school  chapel  in  the  morning  in  English — but  in  a 
very  different  style  and  manner  of  address  and  delivery  in 
his  native  language. 

"During  this  service.  Bishop  Benade  and  myself  sat  to- 
gether, and  at  the  close  we  took  leave  of  each  other,  I  trust 
with  mutual  Christian  regard,  and  with  the  desire  of  a  more 
close  acquaintance. 

"Many  of  the  original  peculiarities  of  this  body  of  Christian 
confessors,  as  respects  their  civil  discipline,  are  necessarily 
done  away;  and  the  German  language  is  retained  only  on  ac- 
count of  a  few  Germans  among  them,  whose  prejudices  for 
their  native  tongue  are  very  strong.  But  as  they  drop  ofl*, 
and  the  rising  generation  become  more  accustomed  to  the 
English  language,  it  will  ultimately  preponderate.  The  men 
and  women  enter  by  different  doors,  and  sit  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  church.  All  the  females,  to  the  children,  wear  caps, 
uniform  in  their  make;  and  a  place  is  provided  opposite  to 
the  preacher  where  the  women  who  have  infants  sit.  Strangers 


46 


MEMOIR. 


are  treated  courteously  and  sliown  to  tlie  seats  proper  for 
tLem,  and  notified  at  their  lodgings  of  the  hours  of  divine 
service." 


The  increasing  infirmities  of  the  Bishop  made  it  i»ecessary 
for  him,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1828,  to  give  up  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  congregation  at  Raleigh,  which,  mider 
his  fostering  care,  had  grown  into  an  importance  which  re- 
quired more  active  and  uninterrupted  service  than  his  de- 
clining healtli  and  engagements  to  the  diocese  permitted  him 
to  bestow.  The  laro-e  congregations  of  Newborn  and  Wil- 
mington  were  both  desirous  of  procuring  his  valuable  pastoral 
services,  interrupted  and  hindered  as  they  were;  and  accord- 
ingly at  this  time  he  received  from  each  of  those  congrega- 
tions an  invitation  to  become  its  pastor,  but  he  ultimately 
selected  the  village  of  Williamsborough,  to  which  he  had 
been  also  invited,  as  his  future  residence.  The  congregation 
there  was  small,  and  having  never  had  the  benefit  of  regular 
services,  he  thought  it  better  able  to  w^ithstand  the  injurious 
efiects  of  interrupted  ministrations. 

It  pleased  God  about  this  time  to  deprive  Bishop  Ravens- 
croft  of  the  whole  of  his  worldly  substance,  by  that  means 
which  had  become  so  general  in  this  country.  The  same 
benevolent  disposition  wiiich  prompted  him  to  dedicate  his 
life  so  zealously  to  the  service  of  his  fellow  creatures,  had  in- 
duced him  at  various  times  to  become  the  security  for  others 
in  pecuniaiy  transactions,  and  the  issue  was  his  utter  ruin. 
The  details  of  this  unfortunate  business  it  is  not  necessary  to 
relate.  Sufiice  it  to  say,  that  he  met  with  kind  friends,  and 
in  his  own  bosom  fnmd  a  source  of  comfort  which  made 
him  rise  superior  to  his  misfortunes,  and,  like  the  courser 
that  has  shaken  off  his  encumbrances,  to  run  his  race  with 
renovated  speed  and  vigor. 

One  earthly  tie  yet  remained  to  him,  besides  his  connexion 
with  and  attachment  to  the  Church,  and  that  also  it  pleased 
God  to  sever.  Soon  after  his  removal  to  Williamsborough, 
the  health  of  his  wife,  which  had  been  for  some  time  feeble, 
began  rapidly  to  declinej  and  in  January,  1829,  her  sickness 


MEMOIK.  47 

and  sufferings  terminated  in  death.  A  life  spent  in  the  dili- 
gent discharge  of  the  various  duties  belonging  to  her  station, 
was  closed  by  a  death  full  of  the  hope  of  immortality,  audit 
was  a  source  of  great  comfort  to  her  husband,  that  during  the 
last  stages  of  her  illness,  not  one  cloud  of  doubt  obscured  the 
brightness  of  her  heavenly  prospect,  and  that  (to  use  liis  own 
language)  "there  was  not  even  a  distorted  feature  in  the 
agonies  of  death,  to  betray  any  quailing  before  the  king  of 
terrors."  The  severance  of  this  last  earthly  bond  was  to  the 
Bishop  a  severe  trial.  Besides  losing  an  aifectionate  friend 
and  a  faithful  counsellor  in  his  wife,  the  precarious  and  deli- 
cate state  of  his  own  healtli  made  hiin  peculiarly  sensitive  to 
the  loss  of  a  gentle  and  tender  companion  and  nurse.  But 
even  this  severe  chastisement  was  not  to  him  without  its 
mitigations.  The  poverty  to  whicli  he  was  reduced  in  his 
old  age,  had  only  affected  him  as  it  rendered  it  probable  that 
his  early  death,  to  which  he  already  began  to  look  forward, 
would  leave  Mrs.  Ravenscroft  in  want.  The  removal  of  this 
apprehension  by  the  death  of  his  wife,  though  it  might  render 
the  evening  of  his  days  lonely  and  irksome,  at  once  released 
him  from  all  earthly  anxieties;  and  in  speaking  of  his  loss, 
this  thought,  next  to  the  consolations  of  religion,  seemed  to 
have  been  uppermost. 

The  convention  of  1829,  sensible  of  the  increasing  infirmities 
of  Bishop  Ravenscroft,  and  of  the  great  necessity  of  relieving 
him  of  a  portion  of  his  laborious  duties,  determined  to  release 
him  from  all  parochial  charge.  Notwithstanding  his  de- 
clining health  and  strength,  his  devotion  to  botli  his  diocese 
and  parish  had  continued  unremitted.  Often  during  his 
visitations  he  would  spend  one  day  on  a  sick  bed,  and  the 
succeeding  in  preaching  with  his  usual  force  and  zeal,  or  in 
travelling  from  the  place  of  one  appointment  to  that  of 
another;  and  while  at  home,  he  never  permitted  a  Sunday  to 
pass  without  occupying  his  pulpit.  This  double  labor  was 
obviously  too  much  for  his  reduced  strength  and  health,  and 
the  convention,  notwithstanding  the  slender  means  of  the 
diocese,  increased  his  salary  so  as  to  make  it  adequate  to  his 
support  independently  of  any  parochial  contribution.  But 
the  relief  came  too  late.  The  visitation  immediately  pre- 
ceding this  convention,  was  the  last  he  was  ever  permitted  to 


48  MEMom. 

make  to  the  diocese,  which  owed  so  much  to  bis  zealous  and 
faithful  labors.  After  the  adjournment  of  tlie  convention  he 
visited  the  newly  formed  dioceses  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky, 
and  from  thence  went  to  Phihidelphia  to  attend  the  sitting  of 
the  general  convention  in  that  city.  This  long  journey, 
which  he  was  induced  to  take  at  the  urgent  solicitations  of 
the  Tennessee  clergy,  and  perhaps  by  the  expectation  that  it 
might  benefit  his  liealth,  he  performed  in  the  public  stages 
and  steamboats,  travelling  more  than  a  thousand  miles  over 
a  rough  and  mountainous  countrj',  in  the  former  mode  of 
conveyance.  When  the  general  convention  had  finished  its 
session  he  remained  for  more  than  a  month  in  Philadelphia, 
under  the  care  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  of  that  city. 
Their  skill  restored  him  to  a  degree  of  comfort  and  health 
which  he  had  not  known  for  years,  and  they  gave  him  reason 
to  hope  that,  with  proper  care,  his  health  might  be  completely 
re-established.  But  the  expectation  which  they  entertained 
was  vain.  Though  the  Bishop,  previously  to  this  period, 
was  noted  for  the  recklessness  with  which  he  exposed  his 
health  and  life  in  the  labors  of  his  vocation,  he  seems  to  have 
been  impressed  by  the  opinion  of  these  eminent  medical  ad- 
visers, with  the  absolute  necessity  of  more  prudence,  and 
thenceforward  to  have  yielded  to  their  injunctions;  but  a 
sudden  and  violent  change  of  weather  exjDOsing  him  to  severe 
cold  on  an  unavoidable  journey  to  Fayetteville,  (whither  he 
was  preparing  to  remove,)  brought  back  all  the  worst  symp- 
toms of  his  disease  in  an  aggravated  form.  Having  disposed 
of  his  eifects  in  Williamsborough,  preparatory  to  his  contem- 
plated removal  to  Fayetteville,  he  reached  Raleigh  in  Decem- 
ber, where  he  designed  remaining  during  the  session  of  the 
legislature.  His  health  was  now,  once  more,  evidently  and 
rapidly  declining.  He  was,  however,  enabled  to  write  a  ser- 
mon for  the  consecration  of  Christ  Church,  in  Raleigh,  and 
to  perform  that  service.  After  that  he  daily  grew  weaker, 
and  his  former  disease,  chronic  diarrhoea,  returning  with 
renewed  violence,  and  being  conjoined  with  the  double 
quartan,  soon  prostrated  him.  In  a  letter  written  on  the  last 
of  January,  he  says,  "I  am  w^eakening  daily,  and  now  can 
just  sit  up  long  enough  at  a  time  to  scribble  a  letter  occasion- 
ally."   "But,"  he  adds,  "as  respects  the  result,  I  am,  thank 


MEMOIR.  49 

God,  free  from  a23prehension.  I  am  ready,  I  liumblj"  trust, 
through  the  grace  of  my  divine  Saviour,  to  meet  the  will  of 
OoD,  whether  that  shall  be  for  life  or  for  death;  and  I  humbly 
tiiank  Cueist  Jesus,  my  Lokd,  who  sustains  me  in  patience 
and  cheerfulness  through  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death." 

For  many  weeks  jDrevious  to  his  dissolution,  he  was  fully 
persuaded  that  his  sickness  was  unto  death,  and  spoke  of  his 
decease  as  certain,  and  at  no  great  distance;  but  manifested 
the  utmost  calmness  in  the  contemplation  of  it.  "Why  should 
I  desire  to  live?"  said  he.  "There  is  nothing  to  bind  me  to 
this  world.  The  last  earthly  tie  has  been  broken.  iSTever- 
theless,  I  am  perfectly  resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  either  to 
go  or  stay.  I  feel  no  anxiety  about  the  issue."  During 
the  whole  of  his  illness,  his  conduct  was  such  as  to  satisfy 
every  one,  that  he  felt  no  apprehensions  at  tlje  thought  of 
death.  He  retained  the  peculiarities  of  his  character  to  the 
last;  the  same  ardent  love  and  zeal  for  the  truth,  the  same 
fearless  rebuke  and  condemnation  of  error,  marked  his  cha- 
racter on  a  sick  and  dying  bed,  which  had  so  eminently  dis- 
tinguished him  through  life;  and  he  let  slip  no  oj^portuuity 
of  bearing  testimony  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  jEsrs,  and  as  it 
is  held  and  taught  by  the  Church  of  which  he  was  a  Bishop. 
"On  one  occasion,"  writes  the  Kev.  Mr.  Freeman,  (who  at- 
tended him  in  his  last  moments,)  "several  persons  being  pre- 
sent, I  turned  to  the  book  of  Proverbs,  and  read  to  those  who 
were  sitting  by  me,  the  following  passage,  (chap.  20,  v.  21,) 
"An  inheritance  may  be  gotten  hastily  at  the  beginning,  but 
the  end  thereof  shall  not  be  blessed,"  and  proceeded  to  ob- 
serve, how  little  encouragement  was  afforded  by  this  passage 
for  a  man  to  make  haste  to  be  rich,  <fec.  When  I  ceased 
speaking,  the  Bishop,  who  I  thought  was  not  attending  to 
what  passed,  exclaimed,  'There  is  another  lesson  to  be  learned 
from  it.  It  may  be  applied  to  those  who  have  hastily  ob- 
tained a  religious  inheritance — who  place  their  dependence 
on  those  sudden  and  evanescent  fervors  which  they  ha^^  ex- 
perienced in  some  moment  of  excitement.'  With  respect  to 
his  own  prospects,  he  appeared  to  entertain  no  apprehen- 
sions. I  asked  him,  a  few  days  before  his  decease,  if  he  had 
never  during  his  illness  been  troubled  with  doubts  and  mis- 
givings? 'JN^ever,'  said  he.  'So  free  liave  I  been  fro)n  any 
rvoi.  1.— ■•■--i-i 


50  MEMOIR. 

suggestions  of  the  enemy,  that  I  have  never  doubted  for  a 
moment,  except  that  the  thought  has  sometimes  come  over 
me  that  my  tranquility  is  possibly  an  evidence  that  Satan 
thinks  himself  sure  of  me,  and  therefore  lets  me  alone.'  On 
my  answeriiig,  that  as  he  had  been  laboring  to  pull  down 
Satan's  kingdom — had  been  constantly  engaged  in  fighting, 
not  in  his  ranks,  but  in  opposition  to  him,  it  was  not  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  he  had  any  claims  upon  him.  'True,' 
said  he,  'but  then  I  have  had  such  a  body  of  sin  to  struggle 
against,  and  seem  now  to  have  been  so  much  engaged  in 
preaching  myself  rather  than  God,  that  I  feel  humbled  to 
the  dust.  My  only  ground  of  consolation  is,  that  as  Chsist 
suffered  in  weakness  for  our  redemption,  much  more  may 
we  hope  to  be  saved  by  the  power  of  his  resurrection,' 
Speaking  of  his  enfeebled  state,  and  what  he  called  the 
wandering  of  his  thoughts,  he  remarked  on  the  folly  of  de- 
laying repentance  to  a  sick  bed,  and  expressed,  as  he  had 
often  done  before,  his  desire  to  warn  every  one  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  being  able  to  settle  on  a  dying  bed  so  vast  a  con- 
cern as  that  of  making  one's  peace  with  God.  'If  I  had  my 
work  now  all  to  do,  what  would  become  of  me?  If  I  had 
put  oft'  this  matter  to  this  time,  it  must  have  been  entirely 
neglected.' 

"He  received  the  Holy  Communion  once  while  on  his  sick 
bed,  and  had  appointed  to  receive  it  again,  a  few  days  be- 
fore his  death.  But  when  the  time  came,  he  was  so  much 
exhausted  by  the  preparations  which  he  had  made,  and  which 
he  would  not  omit,  in  order  that  he  might  come,  as  he  ex- 
pressed himself,  'literally  clean  to  the  heavenly  feast,'  that  he 
was  obliged  to  forego  the  opportunity.  'I  am  not  in  a  con- 
dition,' said  he,  'to  partake  discerningly,  and  I  have  no  super- 
stitious notions  respecting  the  Eucharist — ■!  do  not  regard  it 
as  a  viaticu77i,  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  departing  soul. 
I  believe  tliat  in  my  case  tiie  will  will  be  accepted  for  the 
dee4;  and  tell  my  brethren  (who  were  assembled  in  the  next 
room  to  partake  with  him)  that  though  I  am  denied  the 
privilege  of  shouting  the  praises  of  redeeming  love  once 
more  with  them,  around  the  table  of  our  common  Loed,  yet  1 
will  commune  with  them  in  spirit.' 

"The  evening  before  his  death,  I  had  left  him  for  a  few 


MEMOIR.  51 

moments.  Soon  after,  receiving  intelligence  that  he  was 
dying,  I  hastened  to  him,  and  found  him  nearly  speechless, 
and  sinking  to  all  appearance  very  fast.  I  asked  him  if  I 
should  pray.  'I  cannot  follow  you,'  was  his  reply,  uttered 
with  great  difficulty.  I  then  kneeled  down  by  him,  and 
prayed  silently.  After  some  moments,  he  seemed  to  revive, 
and  motioned  to  us  to  retire  from  his  bed-side,  and  leave 
him  undisturbed.  I  sat  and  watched  him  from  that  time  till 
he  expired,  which  he  did  about  one  o'clock  the  following 
morning,  (March  5th,  1S30,)  without  having  spoken  for  five 
or  six  hours.  He  ajjpeared,  however,  to  be  in  the  entire 
possession  of  his  mind  to  the  last,  and  expired  Avithout  a 
struggle." 

The  remains  of  Bishop  Ravenscroft  were  deposited  within 
a  small  vault,  which  had  been  prepared  under  his  directions 
some  weeks  before  his  death,  beneath  the  chancel  of  Christ 
Church,  in  the  city  of  Ealeigh.  The  following  instructions 
respecting  his  burial,  were  found  in  his  will,  and  punctually 
performed.  "My  will  and  desire  is,  that  the  coffin  to  contain 
my  mortal  remains  be  of  plain  pine  wood,  stained  black,  and 
without  ornament  of  any  kind — that  my  body  be  carried  to 
the  grave  by  my  old  horse  Pleasant,  led  by  my  old  servant 
Johnson — that  the  service  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  as  set 
forth  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  none  other,  be 
used  at  my  interment,  with  the  5th,  Tth,  9th,  10th,  and  31th 
verses  of  the  16th  Psalm,  to  be  used  instead  of  the  hymn 
commonly  sung;  and  that  the  Eev.  George  W.  Freeman, 
Eector  of  Christ  Church,  Ealeigh,  do  perform  the  said  funeral 
rites." 

The  following  further  extract  from  the  Bishop's  will  ex- 
hibits an  amiable  trait  of  his  character.  "I  give  to  A. 
M'Harg  Hepburn  and  E.  M.  Hepburn,  whom  I  have  brought 
up  as  my  children,  my  servant  Johnson,  and  my  favorite  old 
horse  Pleasant,  believing  that  they  will  be  kind  to  Johnson 
for  my  sake,  keeping  him  from  idleness  and  vice,  but  suiting 
his  labor  to  his  infirm  condition;  and  that  they  will  not  sufler 
Pleasant  to  be  exposed  to  any  hardship  or  want  in  his  old 
age,  but  will  allow  Johnson  to  attend  to  him,  as  he  has  been 
accustomed  to  do." 


O-i  MEMOIK. 

His  entire  collection  of  books  and  pamphlets,  which  were 
valuable,  he  bequeathed  to  the  diocese  of  North  Carolina, 
"■to  form  the  commencement  of  a  library  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  North  Carolina." 

To  the  "Episcopal  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  Tract,  and  Mission- 
ary Society,"  of  the  diocese,  in  the  formation  of  which  he 
had  taken  a  very  warm  interest,  he  left  the  cop_y-right  of 
such  publications  of  his  works  as  his  friends  might  think  it 
expedient  to  make,  which  are  now  collected  in  the  volumes 
to  which  this  Memoir  is  prefixed. 

To  portray  the  character  of  Bishop  Pavenscroft  in  its  true 
colors,  is  a  task  of  no  ordinary  difficulty.  Though  candid, 
almost  to  a  fault,  he  yet  shrunk  from  speaking  of  himself, 
except  in  terms  which  his  deep  conviction  of  sin,  and  his 
great  abhorrence  of  self,  rendered  almost  extravagant,  and 
Avhich  were  calculated  to  convey,  and  have  conveyed,  an  im- 
pression injurious  to  himself  in  a  high  degree.  Glowing  with 
the  most  devoted  gratitude  to  God  for  having  rescued  him 
"from  utter  ruin  of  both  soul  and  body  in  hell,"  he  thought 
no  language  of  self  abasement  too  forcible  to  express  his  own 
great  unworthiness,  and  to  magnify  the  goodness  of  God's 
free  grace.  Such  feelings,  and  the  open  avowal  of  them,  it 
is  not  our  purpose  to  censure;  but  only  to  remark,  that  the 
same  self  denouncing  language  which  misled  strangers, 
though  it  did  not  deceive  those  who  knew  him  better,  was 
still  calculated  to  throw  a  veil  overjiis  inward  thoughts  and 
teelings  which  it  was  difficult  to  penetrate;  and  few  but 
those  who  were  admitted  to  his  closet,  could  see  in  their  full 
relief,  the  virtues  of  his  character.  How  rarely  is  the  veil 
of  humility  so  impervious!  Notwithstanding  these  difficulties, 
that  mysterious  act  of  Providence  which  has  removed  Bishop 
Eavenscroft  from  our  sight,  before  a  censorious  and  mis- 
judging world  had  time  to  know  and  appreciate  him,  renders 
an  eifort  to  make  his  character  better  known  and  understood, 
an  act  of  justice  to  his  memory;  and  the  writer  undertakes 
the  task  with  the  more  confidence,  as  he  has,  beside  his  own 
personal  knowledge,  the  aid  and  counsel  of  those  who,  more 
than  any  others,  knew  him  long  and  intimately. 


MEMOIR.  53 

•"^  'In  person,  Bisliop  Eavenscroft  was  large  and  commanding, 
witli  a  countenance,  in  its  general  aspect,  perhaps  austere, 
but  susceptible  of  the  most  benevolent  expression.  His  man- 
ner corresponded  with  his  person,  especially  when  exercising 
liis  ministerial  functions;  being  remarkably  dignified,  and  so 
solemn  and  impressive,  as  to  inspire  all  who  witnessed  it 
with  2-everence.  It  was  impossible  not  to  partake  of  the 
consciousness  which  he  ever  seemed  to  feel  when  at  the  altar, 
of  being  in  the  presence  of  the  Great  Jehovah.  In  his 
general  intercourse  Avith  society  he  was  courteous,  tliough 
when  excited  in  debate,  his  loud  tone  of  voice  and  warmth 
of  manner  sometimes  made  him  seem  dictatorial,  and  were 
tjje  pregnant  sources  of  much  calumny  from  his  enemies. 
The  infirmity  of  temper,  which  in  his  unfinished  memoir  of 
himself  he  bewails  as  his  chief  besetting  sin,  (but  which,  it 
must  be  remembered,  was  entirely  distinct  from  that  ani- 
mation and  perhaps  violence  in  argument,  whicli,  thougli 
subjecting  him  to  reproach  so  often,  was  purely-  tlie  result  of 
a  naturally  ardent  temperament,  and  was  unaccompanied  by 
any  unchristian  feelings,)  would  occasionally,  though  rarely, 
betray  him  into  a  momentary  furgetfulness  of  himself.  This, 
however,  was  witnessed  by  fevr;  for  aware  of  his  infirmity  lie 
struggled  and  pi-ayed  against  it,  and  sought  the  counsel  and 
prayei's  of  his  friends,  patiently  receiving  their  rebukes.  "I 
heartily  thank  you,"  he  writes  to  one  of  his  presbyters,  "for 
tiie  warning  wish  with  which  you  notice  the  infirmity  of  my 
ardent  tem])er,  and  shall  always  feel  obliged  by  every  hint 
which  may  keep  me  on  the  watch  against  its  injurious  in- 
fluence, and  by  every  prayer  which  may  prevail  for  grace,  to 
enable  me  to  direct  it  aright.  Of  whatever  quality  my  trea- 
sure may  be,  I  know  that  I  have  it  in  an  earthen  vessel, 
frailer  tiian  common  in  those  preservatives  which  are  fur- 
nished by  nature,  which  have  often  failed  me;  and  therefore 
the  more  dependent  on  the  promise,  'as  thy  days  so  shall  thy 
strength  be.'" 

This  concession  being  made  respecting  tlie  character  of 
Bishop  Eavenscroft,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  in  all  other  re- 
spects he  was  a  perfect  man^  and  itpright  in  Ms  ways. 

As  a  man  he  was  liberal  in  his  views;  independent  in  his 
principles;  just,  almost  to  punctiliousness;  honest  in  his  in- 


64  MEMOIR. 

tentions;  warm  and  kind  in  his  feelings;  bold  and  fearless  in 
the  cause  of  trnth,  and  remarkably  regardless  of  self  in  all 
he  said  or  did. 

His  moral  worth,  even  before  he  became  a  Christian,  was 
snch,  with  the  exceptions  that  he  himself  has  noticed,  that 
an  inmate  of  his  family  at  the  time  of  his  conversion,  re- 
marks, that  except  in  abandoning  the  habits  alluded  to,  and 
in  becoming  a  praying  Christian,  no  outward  change  was 
necessary  to  constitute  him  the  eminent  and  consistent  pro- 
fessor which  he  became. 

As  a  citizen,  he  was  warml}''  attached  to  our  free  institu- 
tions, and  was  often  heard  to  rejoice  that  the  Church  of  which 
he  was  an  overseer,  was  untrammelled  hy  any  alliance  with 
the  civil  power.  As  a  neighbor,  he  was  kind  and  charitable. 
Being  considerably  skilled  in  medicine,  he  was,  while  resi- 
dent in  Vii'ginia,  the  chief  physician  in  his  neighborhood, 
and  performed  the  laborious  duties  attached  to  this  beneficent 
species  of  charity,  with  cheerfulness  and  alacrity,  promptly 
and  uniformly  attending  to  every  call.  His  hand  too,  was 
ever  open  to  follow  the  leadings  of  his  generous  heart,  and 
ministered  to  the  necessities  of  others  with  a  liberality — we 
might  almost  say  prodigality — that  left  him  at  the  last  rich 
only  in  the  affections  of  his  friends  and  in  the  approbation  of 
his  own  conscience.  Although  his  charity  was  of  that  expan- 
sive kind  which  embraces  within  its  objects  every  creature  of 
God,  yet  his  friendships  (in  the  limited  sense  in  which  the 
term  is  understood,)  were  few,  and  founded  on  a  moral  and 
religious  estimation  of  character.  He  seemed  to  consider  his 
friends  as  parts  of  himself.  Though  he  loved  them,  he  did 
not  express  his  affection  with  honeyed  words,  or  by  a  wilful 
blindness  to  their  faults.  He  knew  not  how  to  flatter,  and  if 
he  had  known,  he  would  have  met  a  martyr's  fate  sooner 
than  have  uttered  one  word  more  than  truth  and  lionesty 
permitted.  Of  his  "revilers  and  persecutors,"  he  said  but 
little,  but  forgot  not  to  pray  for  them;  while  to  his  friends  he 
was  willing  to  appear  at  times  unsparing,  that  he  might  cor- 
rect in  them  those  weaknesses  and  sins  of  which  a  flattering 
world  might  not  have  told  them.  His  rebukes,  though 
affectionate  in  manner,  were  severe,  though  seldom  unde- 
served, and  those  who  were  dearest  to  him  were  most  likely 
to  smart  under  his  reproofs. 


MEMOIR.  oa 

As  respects  his  more  remarkable  benefactions,  this  is  the 
testimony  borne  by  one  of  the  objects  of  his  parental  love — 
*'In  his  conduct  towards  myself  and  brothers  (whom  he 
adopted  in  infancy  and  reared  to  manhood,)  he  always  sup- 
ported tlie  character  of  a  father,  in  its  truest  sense.  I  was, 
myself,  an  infant  when  thrown  upon  his  bounty,  alike  uncon- 
scious of  my  loss,  and  unconscious  of  my  gain;  but,  though  I 
never  knew  father  or  mother,  I  never  knew  their  want  or  felt 
their  loss,  until  I  lost  those  who  adopted  me  for  their  son," 
He  was,  thus,  truly  and  practically,  a  father  to  the  fatherless. 
In  the  character  of  a  master,  Bishop  Ravenscroft  mingled 
the  care  and  affection  of  a  parent,  with  that  authority  which 
Providence  had  placed  in  his  hands,  as  a  means  for  the  good 
of  those  who  served  him.  His  domestics  he  regarded  as  a 
part  of  his  family,  and  he  was  frequent  and  careful  in  ex- 
pounding to  them  the  way  of  life,  and  regular  in  calling 
them  around  his  domestic  altar. 

Whether  or  not  the  trials  of  temper  to  which  he  makes 
such  frequent  reference,  in  speaking  of  his  early  life,  had  any 
connexion  with  the  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  his  slaves, 
is  not  known,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  the  latter  years  of  his 
life,  if  he  erred  at  all  in  his  treatment  of  them,  it  was  de- 
cidedly on  the  side  of  indulgence. 

As  a  husband  Bishop  Ravenscroft  was  the  guide  and  in- 
structer,  the  feeling  friend,  and  the  affectionate  keeper,  of 
those  to  whom  he  was  successively  bound  in  the  strongest  of 
earthly  ties. 

But  all  the  relations  of  which  we  have  spoken  are  now  dis- 
solved for  ever.  As  a  neighbor,  a  benefactor,  a  master,  and 
a  husband,  he  will  be  known  no  more.  But  in  the  enduring 
character  of  a  follower  of  Christ  he  continues  unaltered  and 
unharmed  by  death.  It  remains  for  us  to  contemplate  him 
in  this  character  while  militant  on  earth. 

When  the  Spirit  of  God  called  him  like  another  Saul  from 
the  iiighway  of  sin,  he  fell  before  the  power  of  truth;  he 
acknowledged  himself  the  chief  of  sinners;  he  renounced  all 
his  former  dependencies,  and  gave  himself  unreservedly  to 
that  God  whom  he  had  opposed.  From  that  day  to  the  one 
which  shone  upon  his  burial,  he  lived  to  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  good  of  others.    In  him  there  was  no  superficial 


56  MEMOIR. 

change:  the  grace  of  God  had  done  its  perfect  work,  audJie, 
indeed,  became  a  "new  creature."  His  religion  had  nothing 
in  it  austere  and  repulsive,  but  was  of  that  cheerful  and  ha])py 
kind  which  insensibly  wins  over  the  thoughtless  and  dis- 
arms the  gainsajer.  But  when  in  the  retirement  of  his  study, 
lie  either  dwelt  upon  his  own  experience  in  divine  things, 
or  listened  to  the  story  of  some  contrite  heart,  there  was  a 
solenmity  in  his  manner  which  bespoke  a  heart  deeply  im- 
bued with  the  spirit  of  holiness,  and  keenly  alive  to  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  his  sacred  calling.  In  the  still  more  secret 
recesses  of  his  closet  or  chamber  there  was  exhibited  tliat 
earnestness  of  devotion  which  added  such  a  lustre  to  his 
Christian  character.  It  is  truly  said  by  a  reverend  friend 
"who  served  with  him  as  a  fellow  presbyter  for  years — "He 
was  one  of  the  most  devotional  men,  in  private,  that  I  have 
ever  known.  After  preaching  two  or  three  times  in  a  day, 
and  lecturing  and  praying  with  a  family  at  night,  yet  when 
he  retired  to  his  chamber,  he  would  prostrate  himself  on  ins 
knees  for  a  long  time,  with  agonies  and  internal  stragglings 
almost  irrepressible,  as  though  he  was  wrestling  with  his  God 
for  the  very  life  of  his  soul."  These  groanings  aiid  wrest- 
lings of  his  heart  in  prayer  have  attracted  the  notice  of  many, 
.and  it  is  believed  were  the  invariable  characteristics  of  his 
private  devotions. 

The  most  prominent  feature  of  Bishop  Ilavenscroft*'&  Chris- 
tian character  was  love  towards  God,  resulting  from  a  feeling 
sense  of  the  intinite  obligations  under  whicli  the  goodness  ot" 
God  had  laid  him.  The  only  subject  that  ever  aifected  him 
to  tears,  was  the  mercy  of  God  in  having  rescued  him  from 
the  grasp  of  Satan.  lu  speaking  of  this  great  deliverance, 
which  he  seemed  to  realize  in  all  its  force,  his  heart  appeared 
ready  to  burst  with  the  fullness  of  his  grateful  emotions.  It 
was  this  ardent  love  to  God,  which  animated  his  zeal,  which 
quickened  his  diligence;  which  urged  him  on,  even  to  the 
sacrifice  of  life,  in  the  service  of  his  master;  which  made  him 
bow,  without  a  murmur,  to  the  various  afflictive  dispensa- 
tions of  which  he  was  the  object;  and  which  made  him,  at 
the  last,  "lie  down  in  the  dust"  with  the  most  perfect  tran- 
quility. This  principle  of  action  in  Bishop  Ravenscroft  ac- 
counts for  much  that  has  been  misconstrued  in  jbis  conduct. 


3IEM0IK. 


5T 


Believing  all  that  he  preached  to  be  essential  to  the  glorj  of 
God,  it  stimulated  him  to  the  utmost  earnestness  and  de- 
cision; and  thinking  especially  that  the  sin  of  schism  waa 
alike  destructive  to  the  eternal  interests  of  man,  and  inju- 
rious to  the  majesty  of  God,  like  another  Curtius  he  boldly 
threw  himself  into  the  gulf  reckless  of  what  might  befall  him- 
self, so  that  he  accomplished  the  salvation  of  souls  and  se- 
cured the  integrity  of  God's  law.  In  the  practice  of  that 
charity  which  he  revered  as  one  of  the  plainest  injunctions  of 
Scripture,  he  distinguished  between  persons  and  opinions^ 
and  while  bold  in  denouncing  error,  was  ever  ready  to  do 
justice  to  motives.  He  esteemed  it  the  highest  charity  to 
warn  such  as  he  conceived  to  be  in  error  of  their  mistake^ 
and  earnestly  and  loudly  to  call  upon  them  to  awake  from  a 
delusion  which  he  thought  might  be  fatal.  It  matters  not^ 
in  the  estimation  of  the  qualities  of  his  heart,  whether  his 
opinions  were  right  or  wrong;  lie  thought  them  right,  and 
was,  therefore,  justified,  and  even  constrained,  by  his  duty  a& 
a  minister,  to  preach  them.  ''My  dear  brother,"  he  writes 
to  the  presbyter  already  mentioned  as  having  withdrawn 
from  the  Church,  and  who  had  been  urging  the  very  charge 
we  have  been  combating — "is  the  declaration  of  the  truth^ 
the  pressing  our  principles,  upon  the  authority  of  Scripture- 
and  reason,  a  hostile  and  militant  attitude?  I&  the  denun- 
ciation of  error  publicly  made,  an  arrogant  assumption  of 
superiority  over  othei^s?  Then  were  St.  Paul  and  the  other 
apostles  the  most  contentious,  arrogant,  and  contemptuous 
men  in  the  world — the  most  hostile  to  heavenly  affections, 
that  ever  lived.  What  harsh  censures  have  I  uttered  against 
any  denomination  of  Christians?  I  beseech  you  cliarge  mer 
not  with  any  such  fault,  laying  at  my  door  things  which  I 
know  not  of"  And  again  he  says,  "I  respect  principle  in 
every  man,  no  matter  how  much  it  may  conflict  with  my 
own;  nor  would  I  take  fi'om  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  the 
right,  which  I  hold  sacred,  of  judging  and  acting  for  my- 
self" It  may  be  well  for  those  who  have  attached  the  charge 
oi  bigotry  to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Bavenscroft,  to  inquire 
whether  that  so  called  liberality  which  denounces  as  bigotry 
the  zealous  maintenance  of  any  opinions,  be  not  in  itself  one 
of  the  worst  kinds  of  bigotry?     No  one  who  ever  heard  the 


58  MEMOIR. 

Bishop  preach,  ever  doubted  tliat  he  was  sincere;  and  if  lie 
believed  that  what  he  preached  was  an  essential  part  of  the 
gospel,  is  it  not  a  species  of  bigotry  to  charge  this  fidelity 
upon  him  as  a  crime?  And  would  he  not  have  been  justly 
deemed  a  faithless  physician  of  souls  if  he  had  kept  from 
the  knowledge  of  his  patient,  the  very  existence  of  a  malady 
which  he  thought  might  be  fatal  unless  removed?  As  has 
been  already  said,  humility  was  a  distinguishing  trait  in  the 
Christian  character  of  Bishop  Ravenscroft — a  humility  grow- 
ing out  of  a  thorough  knowledge  and  distrust  of  himself. 
Besides  that  meekness  under  rebuke  which  we  have  men- 
tioned, it  will  scarcely  be  believed,  that  even  in  the  com- 
position of  his  most  elaborate  works,  his  powerful  mind  did 
not  scorn  the  suggestions  of  his  youngest  and  humblest 
friends,  but  would  patiently  receive,  and  sometimes  adopt 
them,  yielding  his  own  views  with  entire  readiness  when 
convinced  that  they  were  erroneous.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  spirit  of  complaisance  never  tempted  him  for  a  moment 
to  withhold  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth,  nor  to  shrink 
from  the  detection  and  exposure  of  error. 

The  humility  of  his  character  was  most  eminently  dis- 
played in  that  remarkable  loathing  of  himself  to  which  we 
liave  so  often  referred,  and  which  nothing  but  an  unshaken 
confidence  in  the  infinite  value  of  Christ's  sacrifice,  could 
have  rendered  tolerable  to  him.  But  that  grace  which  re- 
vealed to  him  with  such  awful  distinctness,  the  depravity  of 
his  early  life,  sustained  him  under  the  contemplation  of  it, 
and  enabled  him  to  say  on  his  death-bed,  "Though  the  past 
is  not  without  its  reproaches,  the  future  is  without  its  fears." 
As  a  minister  of  the  c?'08s^  Bishop  Ravenscroft  was  faith- 
ful, diligent,  and  zealous.  He  loved  to  proclaim  the  goodness 
of  God  and  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel;  and  his  appeals  to 
the  hearts  and  tlie  understanding  of  his  audiences  were  fer- 
vid and  animated.  lie  preached  the  gospel  in  its  utmost 
purity,  and  though  he  did  not  withhold,  on  proper  occasions, 
the  declaration  and  defence  of  his  peculiar  opinions,  the 
themes  upon  which  he  most  delighted  to  dwell  were,  the 
goodness  of  God,  the  depravity  of  man,  the  provision  made 
for  his  restoration  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  the  freeness 
and  fullness  of  that  mercy  which  off'ers  the  inestimable  bene- 
fits of  his  death  to  the  whole  world. 


MEMOIR.  59 

His  success  as  a  preacher  no  doubt  arose  in  part  from  the 
familiarity  which  his  early  experience  had  given  him  with 
all  the  recesses  of  the  unconverted  heart,  and  from  the  search- 
ing fidelity  with  which  he  portrayed  its  most  secret  workings. 
Kot  like  the  spy  who  has  discovered  the  outward  defences  of 
the  enemy's  camp,  but  like  one  who  had  been  born  and  bred 
within  its  precincts,  he  knew  every  assailable  point,  every 
defenceless  outpost;  and  bearing  down  upon  it  with  impetu- 
ous force,  it  was  impossible  to  withstand  his  onset. 

His  solemn  and  impressive  manner,  his  finely  modulated 
voice,  his  commanding  figure,  and  evident  earnestness  in  the 
sacred  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  never  failed  to  com- 
mand the  attention  and  to  move  the  hearts  of  his  auditory, 
while  many  who  had  been  misled  by  the  misrepresentations 
of  his  enemies,  were  constrained  to  admit  his  zeal  and  sin- 
gleness of  pur]30se. 

It  may  be  here  observed,  that  those  who  most  reviled  him 
knew  him  the  least,  or  were  most  interested  in  interrupting 
the  success  of  his  brilliant  career;  and  many  have  been  the 
instances,  where  seemingly  inveterate  prejudices  have  yielded 
to  a  personal  knowledge,  and  have  been  converted  into  the 
most  ardent  admiration  and  attachment.  His  defects  were 
superficial,  and  were  discovered  at  the  first  glance,  and  easily 
made  instruments  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies  to  injure  him: 
but  his  virtues  were  sterling,  and  shed  their  influence  over 
his  whole  life  and  character,  and  became  more  and  more  pro- 
minent as  the  inspection  became  more  close. 

As  a  scholar  and  theologian,.  Bishop  Ravenscroft  cannot, 
perhaps,  be  deemed  profoundly  learned.  He  had  received 
an  excellent  classical  education,  and  had  not  failed  to  acquire 
an  extensive  acquaintance  with  general  literature;  but  the 
habits  and  employments  of  his  life  before  he  entered  the 
ministi-y  had  not  permitted  any  very  enlarged  researches  in 
science,  or  any  very  great  acquisition  of  learning.  When  his 
attention  was  turned  to  religious  reading,  he  seems  to  have 
confined  himself  to  such  authors  (and  especially  the  early  fa- 
thers of  the  Church)  as  threw  most  light  upon  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  constitution  of  the  primitive  Church;  and  his  own 
vigorous  mind  readily  supplied  the  want  of  those  lesser  aids, 
which  students  of  more  leisure  and  longer  standing  have  time 


60  MEMOIR. 

to  use.  With  the  Scriptures  themselves  he  was  thoroughly 
conversant;  and  with  all  such  colUiteral  subjects  as  his  station 
in  the  Church  required  him  to  become  minutely  acquainted 
with:  but  with  such  subjects  as  were  more  speculative  than 
practical,  he  concerned  himself  but  little.  His  very  reten- 
tive memory  hoarded  up  with  great  accuracy  such  acquisi- 
tions as  his  limited  time  allowed  him  to  make,  and  his  rapid 
and  vigorous  conceptions  enabled  him  to  reach,  with  far  less 
than  ordinary  study,  the  conclusions  of  truth.  These  advan- 
tages made  him  appear  learned,  and,  perhaps,  gave  him  all 
the  benefits  ordinarily  derived  from  learning;  for  his  argu- 
ments were  all  of  the  most  masterly  kind,  and  rarely  failed 
to  extort  admiration,  if  not  conviction.  His  style  was  forci- 
ble and  impressive,  occasionally  abounding  with  the  most 
glowing  imagery,  sometimes  a  little  involved,  and  more  rare- 
ly indicated  a  slight  degree  of  negligence.  His  i-easoning  in 
the  pulpit  was  clear  and  judicious,  while  his  apjjeals  to  the 
passions  were  animated  and  powerful. 

As  a  J^ishop,  he  was  untiring  in  his  devotion  to  the  duties 
of  his  station.  More  anxious  for  the  promotion  of  true  piety 
and  sound  principles,  than  for  the  vain  extension  of  the  Church 
over  an  unfruitful  domain,  he  directed  his  first  attention, 
when  called  to  preside  over  the  diocese  of  North  Carolina, 
to  the  condition  of  its  already  established  congregations. 
Many  of  these,  as  we  have  already  seen,  had  been  imperfect- 
ly instructed  in  divine  things,  and  needed  the  fostering  and 
enlightened  care  of  his  diligent  hand.  The  establisiiment 
and  confirmation  of  these  in  true  and  fruitful  piety,  and  in 
divine  knowledge,  is  the  true  criterion  of  the  success  of  his 
Episcopal  labors;  while  the  addition  to  the  Church  of  sevei'al 
well-informed  and  zealous  congregations,  shows,  that  although 
mainly  attentive  to  the  securing  of  the  ground  already  gained, 
he  was  not  inattentive  to  its  extension.  The  subst7'ucture  of 
the  Church  in  his  diocese,  in  some  respects  weak  and  defec- 
tive wdien  placed  under  his  care,  he  had  repaired  and  tho- 
roughly reformed:  the  swperstruchire  was  just  beginning  to 
rise  when  his  labors,  his  self-sacrificing  labors,  were  termi- 
nated by  death. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  clergy.  Bishop  Ravenscroft  was 
kind  and  affectionate.     He  regarded  them  as  sons  in  God,  and 


MEMOER.  '  61 

they  looked  up  to  him  with  reverence  and  child-like  affec- 
tion. Although  vested  with  the  highest  authority  of  the 
Church,  that  authority  was  never  felt  except  by  offenders.  In 
his  presence  all  distinctions  vanished,  except  that  which  his 
dignified  person,  his  conunanding  talents,  and  his  superior 
pietv,  claimed  for  him. 

Sucli  was  Bishop  Eavenscroft  in  life,  and  even  more  than 
such  did  he  prove  iiimself  in  the  hours  of  sickness  and  death. 
With  Inimble  confession  of  many  offences,  both  to  God  and 
man,  he  bore  his  long  and  wearisome  illness  with  meekness, 
patience,  and  even  cheerfulness;  and  met  its  solemn  termi- 
nation with  that  equanimity  which  the  aj)proving  grace  of 
God  alone  can  bestow. 

The  followino;  communication  from  a  reverend  gentleman 
who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Bishop  Ravenscroft,  came  to 
hand  too  late  to  be  embodied  in  the  preceding  memoir.  As 
it  contains  some  interesting  particulars,  the  opportunity  is 
embraced  of  inserting  it  in  this  place. 

Di:ak  Sm: 

You  ask  me  to  give  you  some  of  ray  reminiscences  of 
our  late  beloved  Diocesan,  and  I  sincerely  thank  you,  in  re- 
turn, for  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  me  of  speaking  on  a 
subject  of  which  I  never  can  grow  weary.  And  yet  I  know 
not  where  to  begin,  or  how  to  do  justice  to  a  single  trait  of 
his  marked  character,  lie  was  indeed  a  man  of  peculiar 
mould.  Lavishly  endowed  by  nature,  both  as  to  mind  and 
body,  he  needed  only  (what  he  afterward  experienced)  the 
transforming  power  of  grace,  to  make  his  character  as  lovely 
as  it  was  striking.  But  I  will  not  dwell  on  his  general  cha- 
racter, as  that  is  well  known  to  the  world.  Let  me  rather 
call  your  attention  to  a  few  interesting  particulars,  which, 
though  perhaps  unworthy  the  notice  of  a  more  grave  biogra- 
pher, may,  notwithstanding,  lend  their  aid  in  elucidating  a 
character  so  deservedly  dear  to  us  both. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  intimately  acquainted  with 
Bishop  Ravenscroft,  and  (I  think  I  may  say  it  without  being 
accused  of  vanity)  to  enjoy  his  confidential  friendship.  Cir- 
cumstances threw  me  more  frequently  in  his  comj)any  than 


62  MEilOIK. 

either  of  his  other  clergy,  and  thus  gave  me  an  opportunity, 
enjoyed  by  few,  of  seeing  him  as  he  was  in  his  parlor,  in  his 
study,  and  in  all  those  retired  relations  of  life,  which,  though 
not  often  taken  into  the  estimate  of  character,  serve,  never- 
theless, to  show  a  man  in  his  pro])er  and  distinguishing  co- 
lors.    I  might  further  say,  that  I  knew  him  well  in  the  unre- 
served moments  of  private  intercourse.    But  never  lived  there 
a  man  in  whom  there  was  less  reserve,  and  who  was  more 
perfectly  the  same  in  public  and  in  private.     "I  have  no  con- 
cealments," would  he  frequently  say,  "nor  do  I  wish  to  know 
the  secrets  of  others."     And  never  did  man  act  more  up  to 
his  declarations.     With  a  wasteful  honesty  (if  1  may  so  speak) 
he  dealt  out  the  truth  to  all,  regardless  of  the  fear  or  favor  of 
any.     He  "kept  back"  nothing  that  he  thought  would  tend 
to  the  right  understanding  of  the  truth.     He  was  ^''deter- 
mincd^''  to  use  his  own  words,  "^c  call  things  hy  their  right 
names.''''     In  one  word,  he  was  far  too  honest  for  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.     Had  his  lot  been  cast  in  the  iron  times  of 
the  reformation,  posterity  would  have  rejoiced  in  his  name, 
and  have  ranked  him  with  the  Cranmers  and  Ridleys  of 
those  days.     But  being  raised  up,  as  he  was,  in  the  midst  of 
an  innovating  generation,  he  felt  called  on,  by  every  consid- 
eration of  duty,  to  lift  his  voice  against  that  strong  tide  of 
modern  inventions  and  misnamed  charity,  which  seemed 
about  to  drift  the  Church  from  the  safe  moorings  of  the  re- 
formation, and  toss  it  without  helm  or  pilot  upon  a  sea  of 
uncertainty  and  error.     I  have  often  looked  with  wonder  at 
the  man,  whilst  he  has  been  declaiming  with  the  zeal  of  an 
apostle  against  modern  pretences  of  charity,  and  have  thought 
that  if  all  heralds  of  the  cross  were  filled  with  a  like  zeal  for 
the  truth,  and  reverence  for  primitive  practice,  what  another 
aspect  the  Church  of  Chkist  would  wear!     And  it  has  oc- 
curred to  me  at  those  times,  that  his  fearless,  self-sacrificing 
character  could  be  summed  up  in  no  better  language  than 
that  emphatic  declaration  of  our  Saviour,  "Every  plant  which 
my  heavenlv  Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up." 
He  might  have  taken  it  for  his  motto;  for  it  was  certainly 
the  ruling  principle  of  all  he  said  and  did.     His  honesty.,  I 
believe,  no  man  doubted:  the  jpolicy  of  his  unreserved  decla- 
rations was,  however,  questioned  by  many,  who  regarded, 


MEMOIE.  08 

more  than  he  did,  established  forms  of  speech,  and  tlie  little 
courtesies  of  society  which  are  too  often  made  to  conflict 
with  that  unbending  honesty  and  sincerity  which  should  ever 
characterize  the  Christian. 

It  fell  to  my  lot  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  letter  from  our 
Standing  Committee,  announcing  his  unanimous  election  as 
our  lirst  Bishop.     And  never  shall  I  forget  the  solemn  nature 
of  that  interview.     I  found  hira  happily  seated  at  his  fireside, 
with  the  friend  of  his  bosom  beside  him,  and  his  Bible  open 
before  him.     After  the  usual  salutation  and  inquiries,  the 
documents  containing  the  certificate  of  his  election,  &c., 
were  placed  in  his  hands,  and  as  my  curiosity  was  strongly 
excited  to  witness  the  efiect  produced  on  him  by  this  unex- 
pected and  solemn  call,  I  narrowly  watched  the  workings  of 
his  countenance;  and  there  I  read  a  lesson  on  the  awful  re- 
sponsibility of  the  sacred  calling,  never  to  be  obliterated. 
For  some  moments  he  seemed  to  read  and  read  again,  as  if 
loath  to  believe  the  startling  proposition.     At  length  a  deep 
groan  relieved  the  awful  heavings  of  his  breast.     At  this 
sound  his  wife  looked  up  from  her  work,  and  cast  an  anxious 
look  upon  us  both,  as  if  to  inquire  the  cause  of  such  emotion. 
Kot  a  word,  however,  was  sj^oken.     An  impressive  silence 
reigned  throughout  the  chamber,  broken  only  by  hard  and 
long  drawn  breathings,  which  seemed  to  say  audibly,  "Lokd 
I  am  not  worthy!     ^Yhat  am  I,   O  Lord  God,  and  what  is 
my  house,  that  thou  hast  brouglit  me  hitherto?"     At  length, 
after  pacing  the  chamber  for  a  few  moments,  as  if  struggling 
to  keep  down  his  emotions,  he  paused  before  me,  and  said 
in  his  peculiarly  emphatic  manner,   "Brother,  it  must  be  so. 
The  hand  of  God  is  in  this  thing;  I  see  it;  and  with  his  help 
I  will  go  where  he  calls  me."     Then  putting  the  papers  into 
the  hands  of  her  who  was  literally  his  "help-meet,'  he  en- 
deavored to  return  to  his  wonted  strain  of  cheerful  and  edi- 
fying conversation.     But,  although  he  failed  in  no  iota  of 
attention  to  his  guest,  yet  there  was  an  evident  weight  upon 
him  during  the  remainder  of  my  visit,  which  made  me 
wonder  how  "the  ofiice  of  a  Bishop"  could  ever  be  the  aim 
of  worldly  ambition.    There  was  something  ever  to  be  re- 
membered in  the  expression  of  his  countenance  at  that  time. 
It  seemed  to  indicate  the  humility  of  David  in  the  language 


64 


MEMOIR. 


just  qiiotxid,  without  the  apparent  reluctance  of  Moses  when 
called  into  the  dangerous  service  of  his  Master.  All  the 
trials,  and  labors,  and  responsibilities  of  his  apostolic  office, 
appeared  to  array  themselves  at  once  before  him,  as  if  to 
intimidate  him,  and  make  him  doubt  the  divine  call.  But 
like  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  (whom  of  all  preachers 
he  most  resembled,)  he  took  refuge  in  the  gracious  promise 
of  our  LoED — "My  grace  shall  be  sufficient  for  thee." 

When  I  next  saw  him,  it  was  in  Philadelphia,  standing 
before  the  altar  of  St.  Paul's,  and  receiving  from  the  vener- 
able and  truly  excellent  Bishop  White  his  commission  to 
rule  as  well  as  minister  in  the  Church  of  Cheist.  And 
never,  while  memory  retains  her  seat,  shall  I  forget  the 
startling  effect  of  his  responses  upon  the  multitude  that  looked 
on.  It  was  as  though  an  earthquake  was  shaking  the  deep 
foundations  of  those  venerable  walls.  A  breathless  silence 
reigned  during  the  whole  of  the  sacred  ceremony;  and  no 
one,  it  is  believed  left  the  church  that  day  without  feeling  as 
if  he  could  pledge  himself  for  the  sincerity  and  zeal  of  him 
who  was  then  invested  with  the  apostolic  office. 

And  yet  that  this  man  should  have  had  his  enemies,  yea, 
bitter  enemies  and  revilers!  But  it  need  not  be  wondered 
at,  for  he  was  the  unsparing  champion  of  truth — and,  "ye 
liate  me,"  sa_ys  our  Saviour  to  his  revilers,  "because  I  tell 
you  tiie  truth."  That  Bisiiop  Eavenscroft  had  his  faults, 
must  be  freely  admitted  by  his  greatest  admirers.  An  un- 
fortunate harshness  of  manner  would  sometimes  repel  the 
timid  from  approaching  him;  and  an  apparent  impatience 
under  contradiction,  would  deter  free  conversation  in  those 
who  knew  him  imperfectl3\  But  these  were  blemishes  of 
the  outward  man  only,  and  reached  not  the  "spirit  of  the 
mind."  Of  these  weaknesses,  however,  he  M'as  not  uncon- 
scious; and  oftentimes  has  he  lamented  over  them  before  his 
friends,  and  prayed  against  them  in  secret.  But  a  day  or 
two  before  his  death,  the  writer  of  this  was  conversing  with 
Jiim  on  the  solemn  subject  of  the  future,  when  he  said:  "My 
Jiop@s  on  that  score  are  without  an  intervening  cloud.  I 
Jcnow  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and  I  fear  not  to  trust  my- 
gelf  in  his  hands.  But,  bear  me  witness,  I  look  for  salvation 
only  as  a  pardoned  sinner,     I  have  much  to  be  forgiven  of 


MEMOIR.  65 

OoD,  and  I  have  many  pardons  also  to  ask  of  ray  fellow  men, 
for  my  harshness  of  manner  towards  them.  But,"  said  he, 
lifting  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  striking  upon  his  breast, 
"tiiere  was  no  harshness  here." 

I  cannot  conclude  these  brief  notices  of  my  beloved  dio- 
cesan without  adverting  to  what  I  conceive  was  one  of  his 
most  distinguishing  and  lovely  characteristics — I  mean  his 
devotion  in  private.  On  more  than  one  occasion  I  have  been 
unavoidably  placed  as  an  ear-witness  of  his  moments  (if  re- 
tired devotion — a  devotion  to  which  I  am  sure  that  he  thought 
there  were  no  witnesses  but  himself  and  his  God.  And  it 
was  at  such  times  that  I  wished  a  censorious  world  could 
liave  stood  in  my  place.  I  distinctly  i-emember  the  first 
time  that  I  was  so  situated.  Such  were  the  strong  wrest- 
lings and  deep  groanings  of  that  man  of  God  in  prayer,  that 
my  •  first  impulse  was  to  fl}'  to  his  assistance,  fearing  lest 
some  sudden  and  violent  pain  had  seized  upon  him;  but  a 
moment's  reflection  convinced  me  that  it  was  not  hodily 
anguish  that  wrung  these  complainings  from  him,  but  an 
agony  of  spirit,  which  seemed  driven  for  relief  to  these  plain- 
tive moanings.  Oh,  how  hard  would  he  seem  to  wrestle 
with  his  God!  Every  groan  that  burst  from  his  laboring  soul 
seemed  to  say,  "I  will  not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me." 
Xor  was  his  a  short-lived,  or  transitory  devotion.  Three 
times  a  day,  like  the  prophet  of  old,  did  he  kneel  upon  his 
knees;  and,  unless  pressed  by  other  duties,  he  continued  in 
prayer  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour.  His  usual  custom  was 
to  go  from  the  reading  of  God's  word  to  the  seeking  of  his 
face  in  prayer.  Indeed  I  never  have  known  a  more  diligent 
reader  of  the  Bible.  It  was  ever  open  on  his  desk;  and  in 
the  composition  of  his  sermons,  he  seldom  sought  assistance 
beyond  its  pages.  Enter  his  study  when  you  would,  there 
was  his  Bible  on  one  side  of  him,  and  his  Concordance  on 
the  other.  And  this  reminds  me  of  the  wide-spread,  but 
mistaken  opinion  of  thousands  as  to  his  views  on  the  subject 
of  Commentaries  on  the  Bible.  So  far  was  Bishop  Eavens- 
croft  from  desiriiig  to  disseminate  with  the  Scriptures  the 
interpretations  of  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  that  I  can  truly 
say  I  never  have  known  any  one  to  hold  commentaries  in 
such  light  esteem.     More  than  once  have  I  heard  the  young 

[Vol.  1,— -^^S.] 


66  MEMOIK. 

and  inexperienced  Cliristian  ask  Lim:  ""Wliat  commentatoT 
shall  I  consult  in  reading  my  Bible?"  And  his  reply  has  in- 
variably been,  "]S^o  one.  Read  it  on  yo-ur  knees,  and  the 
Spirit  of  trutli  will  make  all  necessary  things  plain  unto  you." 
]^ay,  I  have  heard  him  go  further,,  and  say^  that  "seldom,  if 
ever,  had  he  been  iielped  out  of  a  difficulty  by  consulting 
even  the  most  esteemed  commentators."  He  delighted  to- 
drink  from  the  pure  fountain,  of  God's  word:  and  his  sermons 
and  private  discourses  showed  plainly  that  he  was  neither 
unlearned  no-r  unskilful  in  handling  its  sacred  truths.  In  his- 
views  of  the  Chri&tian  system,  he  seemed  to  stand  on  an 
eminence,  with  the  whole  Gospel  spread  out  before  him,  in 
all  its  length  and  breadth.  As  a  practical  expounder  of 
Scripture,  I  have  never  known  his  equal.  He  left  to  others 
the  applause  of  critical  acumen  and  deep  research,  and 
sought  rather  to  bring  every  passage  of  God's  word  to^  bear 
upon  the  conscience  of  the-  sinner.  And  in  these  practical 
applications  of  Scriptm-e  he  was  peculiarly  solemn  and  inter- 
esting. "When  in  health,  I  have  known  him,,  after  preaching 
twice  or  thrice  in  the  daj',  lecture  at  family  prayers  for  thirty 
or  forty  minutes,  upon  perhaps  the  first  chapter  that  met  hi& 
eye  on  opening  the  Bible.  And  on  these  occasions,  it  has 
often  been  thought  by  his  friends  that  in  j>oint  of  force  of 
manner,  and  richness  of  thought,  he  even  exceeded  his  more 
deliberate  pulpit  exercises. 

But  I  must  here  put  an  end  to  these  hasty  and  disjointed; 
sketches.  Not  that  I  have  nothing  more  to  say  of  that  great 
and  good  man,  or  that  I  am  weary  of  my  subject.  But  that 
I  fear  I  have  already  exceeded  the  limits  which  you  have 
iLxed  for  my  reply. 

One  further  remark,  and  I  have  done.  It  is  reported  of 
Bishop  Home,  that  such  was  his  admiration  of  the  character 
of  good  old  Bishop  Andrews,  that  he  prayed  that  he  might 
hereafter  be  j^ermitted  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  that  righteous  man 
in  glory.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  often  pi-ayed  that  I 
might  die  as  Bishop  Ravenscroft  died;  and  now,  most  heartily 
do  I  supplicate  our  Father  in  heaven,  to  permit  me  to  occupy, 
in  the  Churcli  triumphant,  what  I  have  ever  esteemed  one  of 
the  greatest  privileges  of  my  past  life — a  seat  at  the  feet  of 
Bishop  Ravenscroft. 

Yours,,  in  Christ,  ever  and  truly. 


SERMONS, 


A  FAREWELL  DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED   TO   THE 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

IN    THE 
PARISH  OF  ST.  JAMES,  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY,  VIRGINIA. 

1  Corinthians,  xv.  58. 

♦'Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable,  always  abound- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not 
in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

Many  considerations,  mj  brethren  and  friends,  unite  in 
condemning  that  neglect  of  reveLation,  and  indifference  to 
the  aM'ful  sanctions  and  encouraging  hopes  of  tlie  gospel, 
which  is  so  prominent  a  feature  in  the  character  of  the  pre- 
sent day;  hut  none  more  directly  than  that  which  forms  the 
subject  matter  of  this  chapter. 

That  another  state  of  being  awaits  us,  in  which  we  shall 
live  for  ever,  no  more  capable  of  change  or  decay,  is  a  doc- 
trine, at  one  and  the  same  time  grateful  and  encouraging  to 
our  hopes,  and  awful  and  overwhelming  to  our  fears.  Be- 
cause the  mind  at  once  passes  forward  to  the  purpose  which 
such  an  appointment  may  be  made  to  answer — to  the  bearing 
it  will  have  on  our  individual  condition,  and  to  tho&e  appre- 
hensions which  flow  from  our  natural  knowledge  of  God,  and 
our  actual  acquaintance  with  our  own  nature. 

But  whatever  may  be  considered  the  influence  of  this  im- 
pression of  a  future  state,  on  those  who  either  have  not,  or 
regard  not,  the  word  of  revelation;  it  presents  to  the  Christian 
a  subject  of  the  most  sublime  and  encouraging  contemplation 
— of  the  most  earnest  and  devoted  self-dedication.  Kealizing 
not  only  eternal  life  for  himself,  but  the  possible  re-union  of 
all  that  was  dear  to  him  in  this  life — no  more  liable  to  change 
or  separation;  the  holy  hope  re-acts  upon  the  duties  of  his 
station,  gives  to  them  a  character  of  eternity,  and  strengthens 
him  to  that  firm  and  unshaken  discharge  of  them,  which 
shall  not  be  disappointed  of  its  reward. 


TO  A   FAREWELL   DISCOUESE. 

What,  then,  my  brethren,  must  it  be  to  the  Christian  min- 
ister, who  knows  that  he  must  answer  with  his  own  soul,  for 
his  faithfulness  towards  the  souls  of  others,  when  he  comes 
to  realize  the  awful  meeting  of  the  risen  dead,  and  the  judg- 
ment that  awaits  him?  Alas!  who  can  paint  the  anxious  fear 
and  holy  hope  with  which  the  contemplation  is  mixed  up? 
especially,  when  the  connexion  between  a  pastor  and  his 
flock  is  about  to  determine — when  he  looks  back  on  the 
course  of  his  labors  among  them — and  calls  to  mind  how 
much  is  left  undone,  how  much  might  have  been  better  done 
— and  that  ere  long  they  will  meet  him  at  the  bar  of  God, 
and  be  his  crown,  or  his  condemnation!  Oh,  it  is  a  feeling 
which  no  language  can  express,  under  which  no  human  for- 
titude could  bear  up,  unless  strengthened  by  that  grace  of 
God,  which  is  made  perfect  in  weakness,  and  from  which  all 
our  sufficiency  is  derived.  Thanks  be  to  God  for  this  his 
help  and  mercy! 

Under  the  influence  of  this  feeling  I  meet  you  this  morn- 
ing, my  brethren,  to  give  you  my  last  exhortation,  my  last 
warning  as  your  immediate  pastor — once  more  to  eat  of  that 
bread  and  drink  of  that  cup,  by  which,  when  duly  partaken 
of,  we  are  made  one  body  with  our  blessed  Lord — humbly 
trusting,  that,  however  imperfectly,  I  have  not  failed  to  de- 
clare unto  you  that  truth  by  which  we  are  saved;  to  counsel 
yoiT  to  stand  fast  in  those  doctrines,  which  the  holy  apostolic 
Church  of  which  you  are  members  hath  set  forth,  as  "the 
faith  once  committed  to  the  saints" — and  to  continue  in  the 
use  of  that  "form  of  sound  words"  which  she  hath  provided 
for  the  public  worship)  of  God — that  "with  the  spirit  and  with 
the  understanding — with  one  heart  and  one  mouth''  ye  may 
glorify  his  holy  name,  and  with  "one  hope  of  your  calling" 
look  joyfully  forward  to  that  great  day  when  "this  mortal 
shall  put  on  immortality,"  and  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord, 
with  crowns  of  glory  on  their  heads,  and  harps  of  triumph  in 
their  hands,  shall  raise  the  enraptured  song,  of  glory,  honor, 
and  salvation,  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and  to  the 
Lamb  for  ever. 

"Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmo- 
vable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord — forasmuch 
as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 


A  FAEEWELL   DISOOUKSE. 


Tl 


A-s  tlie  text  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  heads,  I  shall 
follow  them  in  their  order,  and  consider, 

FiKST,  the  duty  of  steadfastness  or  establishment  in  religion, 
with  an  application  of  it  to  some  few  points  of  doctrine: — 
"Be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable." 

Secondly,  I  shall  lay  before  yon  iftie  necessity  and  advan- 
tage of  diligence  and  engagement  in  all  your  Christian  duties: 
— "Always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord." 

Thiedlt,  I  shall  conclude  with  a  view  of  the  reward  which 
awaits  the  faithful: — "Forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor 
is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  consider  the  duty  of  steadfastness  or  es- 
tablishment in  religion,  with  an  application  of  it  to  some  few 
points  of  doctrine.     "Be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable." 

By  steadfastness  or  establishment  in  religion,  we  are  to 
understand  that  lull  j)ersuasiGn  of  the  mind  which  is  the  re- 
sult of  knowledge,  consideration,  and  experience;  made 
effectual  by  divine  gr-ace,  to  the  full  assurance  of  hope  unto 
the  end. 

Of  this  persuasion  and  assurance,  the  word  which  "God  in 
these  last  days  hath  spoken  to  us  by  his  Son,"«,s  recorded  in 
the  holy  Scriptures,  is  the  only  foundation — as  it  also  is,  the 
only  standard,  by  which  to  try  the  truth  of  our  condition,  not 
only  as  to  soundness  in  doctrine,  and  holiness  of  life,  but  as 
to  our  conformitj'  likewise,  to  those  appointments  of  outward 
order,  in  the  Church,  the  ministry,  and  the  sacraments,  which 
our  Redeemer  has  established,  as  helps  to  faith,  and  visible 
signs  and  means  of  that  grace,  by  which  he  "works  in  us  to 
will  and  to  do" — ^and  with  us,  in  working  out  our  everlasting 
salvation. 

Of  the  truth  and  soundness  of  this  doctrine,  it  might  be 
supposed  there  could  be  no  doubt  on  the  mind  of  any  well- 
informed  professor  of  religion;  because  whatever  claim  we 
may  have  on  the  divine  mercy,  is  by  virtue  of  that  covenant 
made  with  Christ  for  us,  which  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures; 
and  it  is  just  as  necessary  to  comply  with  the  appointments 
of  our  Redeemer,  in  matters  of  outward  order,  as  in  the  un- 
disputed attainments  of  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  But 
further,  upon  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  gospel,  that 
"we  are  saved  by  gra^e,"  it  urast  follow,  that  whatever  re- 


72  A  FAREWELL   DISCOURSE. 

lates  to  our  salvation  must  be  ordered,  directed,  and  deter- 
mined, by  divine  wisdom;  and  so  ordered,  as  not  to  be  sub- 
ject to  any  discretion  of  ours,  other  than  to  receive  or  reject 
it  when  proposed.  Were  it  otlierwise,  there  could  be  no  such 
thing  as  certainty  in  this  weighty  affair:  one  man's  discretion 
would  be  as  good  as  another's,  and  all  religion  be  upturned 
from  the  foundation.  Keither  could  there  be  any  kind  of 
ground  for  steadfastness  or  establishment  in  the  faith,  were 
it  left  to  man's  option,  what  to  take  in,  or  what  to  leave  out, 
in  the  appointments  of  God  fur  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

It  hence  appears  undeniably,  m}'  bj'ethren,  that  tije  duty 
of  steadfastness  is  grounded  on  conformity  in  our  religious 
state  to  the  toliole  counsel  of  God,  revealed  in  his  word. 
Otherwise  it  would  be  the  duty  of  ministers  to  exhort  men 
to  continue  steadfast  in  what  was  clearly  unwarranted  by 
the  word  of  God,  yea,  contrary  to  it:  which  is  blasphemy 
even  to  think  of. 

This  is  so  clear  to  tlie  reason  of  every  unprejudiced  mind, 
that  it  is  very  wonderful  it  should  be  so  little  attended  to; 
more  especially,  wlien  the  subject  is  so  differently  treated  in 
those  Scriptures,  which  all  Christians  profess  to  follow  as 
their  guide. 

In  them  the  exhortations  to  steadfastness  are  very  frequent; 
while  no  latitude  or  discretion  is  so  much  as  hinted  at,  as  to 
what  they  were  to  be  steadfast  in. 

St.  Paul  in  exhorting  Timothy  to  this  duty,  does  it  in  these 
words,  "But  continue  thou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast 
learned,  and  hast  been  assured  of — knowing  of  whom  thou 
hast  learned  them."  ISTo^w  let  us  ask  ourselves,  my  brethren, 
Could  Timothy  l)ave  been  as  well  certified  of  the  truth  and 
certainty  of  what  he  M-as  to  believe,  had  he  received  the  doc- 
trines from  any  other  than  an  apostle  of  Christ?  You  will 
answer,  No.  But  wliy  not,  if  truth  is  the  same  by  whomso- 
ever spoken?  Because  the  truths  of  revelation,  being  articles 
of  faith,  must  have  a  divine  waiTant;  and  as  such,  admit  of 
no  discretion  to  interpret  or  practice  them  contrary  to  tlie 
standard. 

Upon  the  same  princij^le  the  apostle  presses  this  duty  upon 
the  Colossians,  nearly  in  the  words  of  our  text.  "As  ye 
have  therefore  received  Christ  Jesds  the  Lord,  so  walk  ye 


A  FAKEWELL   DKCOHESE.  'TS 

in  him,  rooted  and  built  up  in  bim,  and  establisbed  in  the 
faitb  as  ye  have  been  taught,  abounding  therein  with  thanks- 
giving." Adding  this  most  salutary  caution,  "Beware  lest 
any  man  spoil  you  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after 
the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and 
not  after  Chkist." 

It  is  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  however,  that  we  find 
this  duty  of  steadfastness  in  the  faith  pressed,  upon  the  sole 
foundation  on  which  it  can  be  required  or  practised.  "There 
is  one  body,  and  one  spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope 
of  your  calling;  one  Loed,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God 
and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in 
you  all.  And  he  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  pi'ophets, 
and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the 
edifj'ing  of  the  bod)'  of  Christ,  that  we  henceforth  be  no 
more  children  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every 
wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men,  and  cunning  crafti- 
ness, whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive." 

Hence  it  would  appear,  as  well  from  tJje  nature  of  the 
thing,  as  from  the  letter  and  tiie  spirit  of  Scripture,  that 
steadfastness  or  establishment  in  religion,  does  not  refer 
singly  to  the  spiritual  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  but  to  the 
whole  scheme  of  our  redemption — including  those  appoint- 
ments of  our  LoKD  and  his  apostles,  which  are  outward  and 
visible;  such  as  the  Church,  the  mijiistry,  and  the  sacraments, 
which  are  devised  and  ordered  by  the  wisdom  of  God,  as 
means  to  an  end,  for  our  attainment  of  those  higher  and 
more  spiritual  qualifications  which  form  the  life  and  power 
of  religion;  or,  as  it  is  better  expressed  in  this  same  Epistle, 
"till  we  all  come,  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  mea.- 
sure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ." 

Hence,  my  brethren,  we  are  instructed,  that  the  steadfast- 
ness to  which  we  are  exhorted  in  the  text,  does  not  refer  to  a 
part,  but  to  the  whole  of  our  dut}'  as  redeemed  creatures,, 
made  wise  unto  salvation  b}'  the  revealed  word  of  God;  and 
that  only  as  we  are  thus  found  submitting  ourselves  to  the 
righteousness  of  God,  can  we  witli  any  propriety  be  exhorted 
to  persevere  unto  the  end.     If  in  any  thing  we  be  found  at 


74  A   FAREWELL   DISCOUESE. 

variance  with  this  rule,  the  exhortation  must  be,  to  consider 
and  amend  our  ways,  and  seek  for  that  good  way,  which  the 
wisdom  of  God  hath  marked  out  for  us  to  walk  in,  and  iu 
which  only  can  we  find  rest  to  our  souls — "For  it  is  not  of 
him  that  willeth,  or  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that 
showeth  mercy."  To  be  entitled  to  that  mercy,  on  the  only 
safe  ground,  his  revealed  word,  we  must  be  found  within  the 
rule  which  includes  it  as  a  covenant  stipulation.  Of  any 
other  state  or  condition  dift'erent  from  this,  we  can  say  no- 
thing, because  we  know  nothing.  There  may  be  mercy,  but 
it  is  not  revealed:  it  is  no  where  promised. 

Let  us  cleave  then,  my  brethren,  "to  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony,"  and  in  imitation  of  the  primitive  Christians — 
"continue  steadfast  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship, 
and  in  breaking  of  bread  and  in  prayers."  Thus,  and  thus 
only,  shall  we  walk  with  assurance  through  our  pilgrimage 
here,  finish  our  course  with  joy,  lie  down  in  peace,  awake  to 
glory,  and  meet  at  the  right  hand  of  God — where  trial  shall 
be  ended,  duty  be  free  from  hindrance,  and  love  and  peace, 
from  the  presence  of  Fathee,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  grow 
and  inci'ease  through  the  endless  ages  of  eternity. 

I  come  now  to  apply  this  duty  of  steadfastness,  to  some 
particular  doctrines  of  our  holy  religion. 

And  first  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  as  that  on  which 
the  minds  of  men  in  the  present  day  are  most  unsettled;  and, 
together  with  many  Episcopalians,  farthest  led  away  from 
the  truth  of  Scripture. 

By  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  I  mean  that  article  of  our 
public  creed,  in  which  we  profess  our  belief  "in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,"  or  as  it  is  more  definitely  expressed  in  the 
Nicene  Creed,  "in  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church." 

Before  I  go  into  the  subject,  I  must  explain  tlie  meaning 
of  the  words  Catholic  and  Apostolic^  for  such  is  the  ignorance 
which  is  fast  spreading  over  us,  on  this  and  similar  subjects, 
that  many,  when  they  hear  us  express  our  belief  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  associate  us  with  the  Church  of  Eome,  and 
are  thereby  the  more  easily  prejudiced  against  our  claims  to 
their  notice. 

By  the  word  Catlwlic^  as  used  in  the  Creeds,  and  applied 
to  the  Church  of  Christ,  is  to  be  understood  Universal;  and 


A   FAREWELL   DISCOUESE.  To 

Universal  in  sucli  a  sense,  as  is  opposed  to  national  or  par- 
ticular. 

By  the  word  Apostolic  is  to  be  understood,  the  derivation 
of  that  authority  which  was  committed  to  the  apostles  by 
Christ  himself,  for  the  founding,  extending,  establishing  and 
ordering  his  Church  to  the  end  of  the  world;  and  this  in  such 
a  sense,  as  is  opposed  to  every  other  derivation  of  authority 
whatever. 

That  we  should  have  a  right  understanding  of  this  doctrine, 
of  which  we  regularly  profess  our  belief,  is  surely  very  im- 
portant, my  brethren,  inasmuch  as  the  full  persuasion, 
grounded  on  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  that  we  are  mem- 
bers of  that  one  spouse  and  body  of  Christ,  of  which  he  is 
the  Head — of  that  Church,  which  he  "bought  with  his  own 
blood,  and  built  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  pro- 
phets, himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone'' — that  one  fold, 
of  which  he  is  the  Shepherd — that  household  of  which  he  is 
the  Master — that  kingdom,  of  which  he  is  the  King — that 
vineyard,  of  which  he  is  the  Lord — is  the  first  foundation  of 
any  hope  in  the  revealed  promises  of  God.  For,  however  it 
may  have  fallen  into  disrepute,  in  these  latter  days,  as  a  nar- 
row minded  and  bigoted  doctrine,  yet  certain  it  is,  tliat 
there  is  not  a  promise  from  Gon,  in  the  gospel,  to  fallen  man, 
which  is  not  tied  to  the  condition,  that  he  be  a  member  of 
Christ's  visible  Church  on  earth.  And  we  would  do  well  to 
bear  in  mind,  my  brethren,  that  one  "thus  saith  the  Lord," 
is  of  more  weight,  than  all  the  notions,  and  reasonings,  and 
crooked  inventions,  and  contrivances,  of  man's  wisdom. 

On  this  doctrine  of  the  Church,  then,  we  are  instructed 
from  Scripture — 

First,  that  it  is  but  one.  "There  is  one  body."  Accord- 
ingly, we  never  find  it  spoken  of,  in  these  same  Scriptures, 
indefinitely,  as  a  Church;  but  definitely,  as  the  Church. 

This  oneness^  however,  is  not  to  be  understood  of  any  par- 
ticular location;  for  in  this  respect,  it  hath  no  limit  but  the 
gracious  purpose  of  its  divine  Founder,  to  gather  together  in 
one  the  children  of  God  scattered  ahroad.  Hence  it  is  com- 
pared to  a  vine,  which,  with  but  one  root,  has  many  branches. 

Secondly,  we  learn  from  the  same  source,  that  the  unity  of 
this  one  Body  consists  in  the  belief  and  profession  of  the  one 


76  A   FAREWELL   DISCOURSE. 

faith  or  system  of  doctrine,  revealed  by  the  one  Spirit  of 
God,  and  once  committed  to  the  saints,  or  associated  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  CnRisT,  by  the  preaching  of  the  apos- 
tles; in  the  service,  or  obedience  to  the  laws,  of  the  one  Lord 
or  Head  of  this  body;  in  the  participation  of  the  same  sacra- 
ments, as  means  and  pledges  of  divine  grace,  and  of  that 
brotherly  love  and  Christian  fellowship  in  which  we  are 
joined  together,  in  the  worship  of  "the  one  God  and  Father 
of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh;"  and  in  "the  one  hope  of  our  calling." 

Thirdly,  we  are  instructed  from  the  same  word  of  God,  that 
in  this  one  body  or  Church  of  Curist,  there  is  but  one  source 
of  authority  for  administering  the  word  and  sacraments;  and, 
that  this  authority  is  of  divine  appointment.  "All  power  is 
given  unto  me,  in  heaven  and  in  earth;  Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost — teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you;  and 
lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Fourthly,  we  are  taught  by  the  "more  sure  word  of  pro- 
phecy," that  unto  the  Church,  thus  divinely  constituted,  and 
*'built  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,"  the 
solemn  promise  is  made,  that  "the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it;"  the  Holt  Spirit  given,  to  abide  with  it  for 
ever,  to  enlighten,  convince,  comfort,  and  sanctify  the  chil- 
dren of  God:  and  that  only  as  we  are  members  of  this  one 
body,  fruitful  branches  of  this  one  vine,  are  "the  promises  of 
God  in  Christ,  to  us  yea,  and  to  us.  Amen." 

And  now  let  us  ask  ourselves  seriously,  my  brethren.  What 
ground  of  steadfastness  and  assurance,  in  the  great  work  of 
our  salvation,  can  there  be  to  creatures  such  as  we  are,  other 
than  that  of  divine  authority?  Can  that  which  is  merely 
human,  offer  any  security  to  our  souls?  Or,  can  any  mixture 
of  human  wisdom  amend  the  appointments  of  heaven,  and 
render  them  more  effectual  to  our  "food?  Alas!  what  is  there 
of  endurance  in  the  work  or  wisdom  of  man?  My  brethren, 
is  it  not  written,  that  "the  wisdom  of  this  world  cometh  to 
naught?"  How  then  can  steadfastness  be  exhorted  to,  on  a 
ground  which  is  in  itself  changeable;  which  our  own  obser- 
vation proves  to  be  so,  by  the  present  state  of  the  Christian 
world,  which  having  once  separated  from  the  root  of  Unity, 


A   FAEEWELL   DISCOURSE,  77 

in  the  one  authority  of  Christ  transmitted  through  his  apos- 
tles, goes  on  dividing  and  subdividing,  till  every  original  fea- 
ture of  the  Church  is  lost,  and  the  great  and  gracious  purpose 
of  Christian  union  and  brotherly  love,  rendered  impracticable. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  and  very  properly,  How  is  a  plain 
man  to  settle  a  question  on  which  the  learned  and  the  pious 
are  so  divided?  To  which  I  answer,  first — "Search  the  Scrip- 
tures" with  a  sincere  and  honest  desire  to  find  the  truth;  re- 
membering, "that  the  Scripture  cannot  be  broken,"  and 
therefore  every  conclusion  we  come  to,  to  be  safe  and  agree- 
able to  "the  mind  of  the  Spirit,"  must  be  in  agreement  with 
its  whole  purpose,  and  not  merely  with  partial  and  insulated 
passages  of  the  word.  And  this  course  I  can  recommend 
from  my  own  experience.  It  was  sufficient  for  me,  even 
against  prejudice,  prepossession,  and  profession. 

But,  secondly,  there  is  a  shorter  method,  my  brethren,  and 
that  is,  on  the  ground  of  authority.  If  the  authority  by 
which  any  denomination  of  Christians  ministers  in  sacred 
things,  cannot  be  shown  to  be  derived  from  the  apostles  of 
Christ — that  is,  cannot  be  verified  as  a  fact, — such  denomi- 
nation cannot  be  a  branch  of  that  catholic  apostolic  Church, 
in  which  we  profess  to  believe.  And  I  will  venture  to  say, 
had  this  been  more  attended  to,  in  the  controversies  on  this 
subject,  there  would  have  been  less  confusion  in  the  minds  of 
men,  and  less  unscriptural  hope  among  professors  of  religion. 

In  thus  framing  my  last  address  to  you,  my  brethren,  I 
know  that  I  am  treading  on  what  is  considered  forbidden 
ground;  yet  I  am  actuated  by  a  deep  sense  of  the  responsibil- 
ity under  which  I  am  placed,  lest  I  should  be  charged  with 
keeping  back  aught  that  was  profitable  for  you;  and,  with 
something  of  St.  Peter's  spirit,  I  trust,  "I  would  not  be  neg- 
ligent to  put  you  always  in  remembrance  of  tliese  things 
which  are  most  surely  believed  among  us — And  to  endeavor, 
moreover,  that  ye  may  be  able,  after  my  departure,  to  have 
these  things  always  in  remembrance — For  we  have  not  fol- 
lowed cunningly  devised  fables." 

Being  aware,  also,  that  mistaken  views  of  Christian  chari- 
ty, and  erroneous  notions  of  liberality  of  sentiment,  have 
shaken  many  of  you  from  that  steadfastness,  on  this  doctrine, 
which  is  the  only  security  for  consistency  and  perseverence 


78  A   FAREWELL   DISCOUESE. 

as  clmrcbmen,  I  am  drawn  out  the  more  earnestly  to  lay  be- 
fore you  that  whole  truth  in  defence  of  which  I  am  set.  And 
may  God  pardon  me  for  not  having  done  it  sooner,  and  for- 
give all  his  ministers,  who,  from  love  of  peace,  and  false  ten- 
derness to  the  feelings  of  others,  have  kept  back  these  funda- 
mental doctrines  from  those  of  their  charge. 

For  let  us  consider,  was  this  the  course  pursued  by  St.  Paul 
and  other  apostles,  towards  those  who  separated  themselves 
from  the  Church?  Did  they  own  such  as  fellow  Christians, 
and  their  teachers  as  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ?  Or  did  they 
warn  them  of  their  danger,  endeavor  to  reclaim  them  to  their 
duty,  and  pronounce  their  schism  a  deadly  sin?  Thank  God, 
my  brethren,  that  we  have  the  record  of  their  conduct  in  this 
very  case  to  appeal  to. 

Did  St.  Paul  consider  the  divisions  and  separations  into 
parties  in  the  Corinthian  Church  as  venial  faults,  as  points 
on  which  private  judgment  was  at  liberty  to  follow  its  own 
notions,  without  guilt  and  danger?  Or  does  he  denounce 
them  as  proofs  of  a  carnal  mind,  and  as  the  actual  sin  of 
rending  the  body  of  Christ?  "Search  the  Scriptures."  Does 
he  acknowledge  the  teachers,  who  had  thus  disturbed  the 
harmony  of  the  Church,  and  sown  the  seeds  of  strife  and  con- 
tention among  them,  as  fellow  laborers  with  him  in  the  gos- 
pel, or  does  he  severely  condemn  them,  and  charge  them  as 
ministers  of  Satan?     "Search  the  Scriptures." 

Does  he  tell  the  Galatians,  that  it  was  a  matter  of  no  mo- 
ment by  whom  the  gospel  was  preached  to  them,  or  what 
additions  or  alterations  were  made  in  the  ordinances  of  reli- 
gion, so  that  they  were  believers?  Or  does  he  put  the  proof 
of  the  fact,  that  they  were  believers,  on  their  steadfastness  to 
the  doctrine  he  had  preached  to  them,  and  the  order  he  had 
established  among  them?  Again  I  say,  "Search  the  Scrip- 
tures." Does  he  speak  to  them  of  any  other  ground  of  assu- 
rance in  the  faith,  than  tlie  authority'  by  which  he  was  ac- 
credited to  them  as  the  minister  of  Christ?  Does  he  define 
Christian  liberty  to  be  a  principle  of  dissent  from  established 
order,  at  every  man's  j^rivate  discretion — a  privilege  to  go 
where  we  will,  follow  whom  we  like,  and  believe  what  suits 
our  particular  views,  in  the  Christian  revelation?  Once  more 
I  say,  "Search  the  Scriptures."  Jso,  my  brethren,  Ko.  "What 


A  FAREWELL   DISCOUESE.  79 

then,  let  me  ask,  becomes  of  the  specious  cant  of  tlie  present 
day,  the  spurious  liberality  of  opinion,  so  eagerly  contended 
for  in  this  question,  that  it  matters  not  to  what  communion 
of  professing  Christians  a  man  unites  himself;  that  he  is  equal- 
ly safe  in  one  as  in  another?  Is  it  warranted  by  either  rea- 
son or  Scripture;  or  is  it  not  rather  one  of  those  deceits,  where- 
witli  "Satan,  transformed  into  an  ano;el  of  light,"  is  cunninir- 
ly  contriving  to  defeat  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel? 

With  such  high  authority,  then,  for  our  belief  and  prac- 
tice, and  with  even  such  arguments  as  I  am  able  to  bring- 
forward  in  confirmation  thereof — shall  any  of  you  yet  halt 
between  two  opinions,  my  brethren;  and  by  continuing  to 
give  countenance  to  separation  and  division  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  contribute  to  confirm  the  delusion,  under  which  so 
many  are  led  away  from  the  only  foundation,  and  deceived 
into  "crying  Peace,  where  there  is  no  peace" — certainly  none 
revealed?  God  forbid!  No,  let  us  rather  consider  afresh  the 
foundation  on  which  such  opinions  are  built,  whether  on  the 
word  of  God,  or  the  wisdom  of  man;  and,  separating  the  pre- 
cious from  the  vile,  be  so  grounded  and  settled  in  the  faith 
of  the  gospel  order  and  doctrine,  that  we  may  be  steadfast, 
unmovable,  adorning  the  doctrine  we  profess,  by  lives  and 
conversation  void  of  offence. 

And  you,  my  dissenting  hearers,  am  I  your  enemy,  because 
I  tell  you  the  truth?  God  knoweth.  But  whether  it  is  the 
truth,  is  the  question.  Try  it,  then,  by  the  touchstone  of  eter- 
nal truth,  the  word  of  God,  and  as  you  find  it,  receive  it;  for 
in  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  "We  can  do  nothing  against  the 
truth,  but  for  the  truth." 

Secondly,  to  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

On  steadfastness,  or  establishment  in  the  belief  of  this  doc- 
trine, the  whole  comfort  and  efficacy  of  the  Christian  religion 
depend.  For  if  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth  is  a  creature,  that 
is,  any  thing  less  than  "God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  no  matter 
how  high  he  may  be  exalted  in  the  scale  of  being,  no  just 
confidence  can  be  placed  in  the  atonement  he  hath  made  for 
our  sins  by  his  death  upon  the  cross,  on  the  virtue  of  his 
intercession  for  sinners,  and  on  his  ability  "to  save  to  the 
uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God  by  him." 

On  the  essential  divinity  of  our  Lord,  also,  depends  our 


80  A   FAREWELL   DISCOURSE. 

liojje  of  eternal  life;  for  it  is  expressly  said  by  St.  John,  "tbat 
God  hatli  given,  to  us  eternal  life;  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son." 
Our  Lord  himself  also  declares  the  same  thing,  ''Mj  sheep 
hear  my  voice,  and  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life."  Now 
without  any  dispute  whatever,  if  our  blessed  Lord  hath  not 
this  life  in  himself,  but  bj^  delegation  from  another  in  such  wise 
as  belongs  to  the  condition  of  a  created  being,  the  security  of 
the  believer  for  the  attainment  of  it  is  not  only  weakened, 
but  shaken  to  its  very  foundation.  Because  faith  cannot 
rationally  rely  upon  any  thing  less  than  infinite,  for  the 
fulfilment  of  what  is  promised;  and  because  all  certainty  in 
the  revealed  word  of  God,  as  the  only  ground  of  faith,  is 
hereby  defeated — and  the  Scriptures  rendered  of  no  more 
value  than  a  novel  or  a  newspaper.  And  I  put  the  question 
thus,  to  show  you,  my  brethren,  how  much  dejjends  upon  it; 
and  to  warn  you  against  all  careless  reception  of  the  doctrines 
of  our  religion,  because  no  steadfastness  can  be  relied  upon, 
without  such  conviction  as  springs  from  examination  and 
consideration.  A  man  may  indeed  adhere  most  firmlj^  to  a 
doctrine  or  opinion,  for  which  he  can  give  no  reason,  and  for 
which,  in  fact,  none  can  be  given;  but  such  adherence  is 
either  obstinacy^  or  implicit  faith:  it  is  not  what  the  apostle 
means  by  steadfastness. 

This  doctrine  of  the  essential  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  be- 
ing at  once  the  foundation  and  the  corner  stone  of  Christian 
hope, — "on  this  rock  wnll  I  build  my  Church," — has  from 
the  beginning  been  a  favorite  point  of  attack  to  the  enemy  of 
our  souls;  because  success  here,  rendered  all  other  tempta- 
tions needless — it  being  an  actual  and  fatal  denial  of  Christ, 
to  den}'  his  essential  divinity;  and  because  also,  the  enter- 
tainment of  this  heresy  is  quite  compatible  with,  in  fact  leads 
to,  that  self-righteousness,  which  apes  the  morality  of  the 
gospel,  and  lulls  into  a  fatal  security  those  who,  from  con- 
stitutional temperament  or  worldly  condition,  are  less  ex- 
posed to  those  temptations  which  lead  to  gross  sin,  and  out- 
breaking wickedness. 

In  the  commencement  of  Christianity,  the  attack  upon 
this  doctrine  was  supported  chiefly  by  metaphysical  argu- 
ments, drawn  from  the  nature  of  God;  from  tlie  expressly  re- 
vealed, and  by  all  Christians  acknowledged,  doctrine  of  the 


A   FAREWELL   DISCOURSE,  81 

unity  of  the  divine  essence;  and  from  the  impossibility  of 
understanding,  so  as  to  believe,  the  catholic  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  of  persons,  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead.  In  the  present 
day,  however,  thougli  these  weapons  are  not  abandoned,  the 
main  reliance  seems  to  be  on  the  resources  of  learning  and 
critical  acuteness,  to  explain  away,  or  even  to  expunge, 
those  texts  of  Scripture  which  either  directly  or  by  conse- 
quence assert  this  vital  doctrine. 

Against  both  these  modes  of  attack,  therefore,  it  behooves 
every  Christian,  and  especially  every  Christian  minister,  to 
be  guarded;  and  thankful  we  should  be,  my  brethren  and 
hearers,  that  unless  we  believe  men  rather  than  God — unless 
we  prefer  a  creature,  that  is,  a  created  being,  to  the  Most 
High  God,  as  our  Saviour — unless  we  yield  to  the  pride  of 
the  carnal  mind,  choose  to  be  our  own  Saviour,  and  risk 
meeting  God  in  judgment,  in  our  own  righteousness;  we  are 
amply  furnished  to  withstand  the  many  vain  talkers  and 
deceivers,  who  are  now  "banded  together  against  the  Lord 
and  against  his  anointed,"  and  are  busy  to  upturn  this  cardi- 
nal point  of  "the  faith  once  committed  to  the  saints,''  and, 
with  an  earnestness  that  would  be  commendable  in  a  better 
cause,  are  endeavoring  to  instill  the  poison  of  this  damnable 
heres}''  into  the  minds  of  the  ignorant,  the  simple,  and  the 
unwary. 

ISow  the  means  with  which  we  are  provided  to  withstand 
this  master  delusion  of  the  devil,  are,  the  word  of  God,  and 
Christian  experience. 

In  the  revelation  made  to  us  from  Heaven  by  the  Holy 
GnosT,  speaking  through  the  Prophets — by  Jesus  Christ, 
declaring  the  wnll  of  the  Father — and  by  his  Apostles,  under 
the  visible  and  sensible  guidance  and  direction  of  the  Spirit 
of  truth;  we  find  the  Redeemer  and  Saviour  of  sinful  man, 
represented  at  once  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Son  of  man; 
and  in  the  personal  history  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  in  him 
only,  do  we  perceive  the  perfect  union  of  this  wonderful 
designation.  For  we  behold  in  bis  birth,  in  his  life,  in  his 
death  and  resurrection,  the  infinite  attributes  of  Jehovah, 
and  the  finite  condition  of  our  mortal  nature,  exemplified. 
Kow,  why  should  this  be  thought  a  thing  impossible  witk 
God,  or  incredible  with  men?  Is  the  union  of  the  divine 
[Vol.  1,— *u.] 


S2  A   FAEEWELL   DISCOURSE. 

witli  the  human  nature,  either  more  incredible  o-r  more  in> 
possible,  than  that  of  an  immortal  soul  with  a  mortal  body? 
In  no  wise,  except  in  degree^  which  operates  not  at  all  against 
omnipotence.  All  ai'guments,  therefore,  framed  against  the 
divinity  of  Christ  from  this  source,  and  from  our  inability 
to  comprehend  the  manner  of  such  an  existence,  are  equally 
good  against  the  being  of  God,  and  against  our  own  being; 
they  are  therefore  good  for  nothing,  but  to  sliow  the  daring 
impiety  of  men,  who  would  be  "wise  above  what  is  written." 

In  the  purpose  which  such  a  mysterious  union  was  to 
answer,  as  revealed  to  us,  is  there  any  thing  discordant, 
superfluous,  or  unnecessary?  In  no  shape  or  sense  whatever, 
my  brethren:  for  the  purpose  was  to  reconcile  God  and  man, 
separated  and  put  at  enmity  by  sin;  therefore  none  could  be 
competent  to  this  work,  but  such  an  one  as  was  partaker  oi 
both  natures,  and  as  a  mediator,  or  daysman,  as  Job  styles 
liim,  qualified  to  lay  his  hand  upon  both  parties  in  this  awful 
controversy.. 

Ife  was  also  in  the  purpose  of  this  appointment  of  God's 
rich  redeeming  love,  to  procure  mercy  for  man,  a  sinner, 
consistently  with  the  dignity  of  God,  an  offended  sovereign. 
Now  this  could  no  otherwise  be  done,  than  by  the  nature 
which  had  sinned,  suffering  the  penalty  of  the  law  it  had 
broken;,  so  that  full  satisfaction  might  thereby  be  made  to 
divine  justice,  and  the  offender  brought  within  the  reach  of 
pardon.  But  this  satisfaction,  to  be  full  and  complete,  must 
be  commensurate  with  the  offence;  whicli,  as  against  God, 
was  infinite.  But  no  finite  or  created  being  can  perform  an 
infinite  condition;  therefore,  if  we  are  redeemed  at  ail — if 
Christianity  is  not  a  fable — that  being  who  took  our  nature 
upon  him,  appeared  in  the  world  in  the  jDcrson  of  a  man,  and 
according  to  the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  suffered  and 
died  upon  the  cross  for  our  salvation,  must  have  been  \QYy 
and  eternal  God.  From  this  argument  there  is  no  escape,  as- 
the  opponents  of  Christ's  divinity  are  well  aware;  they  there- 
fore cut  the  knot  which  tliey  cannot  untie,  and  cast  away 
from  tlieir  system  of  unbelief,  all  the  distinguishing  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  denying  the  fall,  and  consequent  depravity 
of  man's  nature,  the  atonement  of  the  cross,  the  meritorious' 
righteousness  of  the  Redeemer,  as  the  only  ground  of  our 


A   FAREWELL   DISCOUESE.  83 

justification  and  acceptance  with  God,  and  the  fifift  of  the 
Holt  Spirit,  as  the  only  root  whence  all  holv  desires,  all 
good  counsels,  and  all  just  works  do  proceed,  in  redeemed 
man.  Ob,  what  a  desperate  delusion  that  must  be,  which 
thus  turns  light  into  darkness,  hope  into  despair,  and  mercy 
into  condemnation! 

From  this  union  of  the  divine  and  human  nature  in  the 
man  Christ  Jesus,  results  the  manner  in  which  he  is  spoken 
of  in  the  Scriptures.  We  read  of  him  as  God;  as  the  Son  of 
God;  as  equal  to  the  Father;  as  one  wi(;h  the  Father:  and  we 
read  of  him  as  man;  as  the  son  of  man;  as  lower  than  the 
Father;  as  acting  by  commission  from  the  Father.  Of  this 
necessary  manner  of  speaking  of  him,  the  adversaries  of  his 
religion  would  take  advantage  against  his  divinity.  But 
what  is  there  in  it  to  stumble  any  fair  mind?  What  is  there 
in  it  inconsistent  with  eitlier  the  power  or  the  purpose  of 
God  in  the  great  work  of  man's  redemption?  Yea,  what  is 
there  spoken  of  our  Redeemer  in  the  Scriptures,  which  if 
unsaid,  would  not  involve  the  subject  in  tenfold  greater 
difficulty,  and  furnish  a  much  more  powerful  (yea,  and 
reasonable  too)  ground  of  opposition  and  unbelief  of  this  doc- 
trine— the  uniform  faitli  of  tlie  Catholic  Apostolic  Church 
from  the  day  of  the  Pentecost  to  the  present  moment? 

The  truth  is,  my  brethren,  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  the 
question,  unless  to  those  who  seek  occasion  against  the  Gos- 
pel. The  fact  of  our  Lord's  divinity  being  revealed,  is  all 
that  we  are  concerned  with.  The  mystery  of  the  incarnation 
of  God  the  Son,  must  remain  such,  while  we  remain  what 
we  are;  but  our  belief  of  the  fact  depends  in  no  degree  on 
our  being  able  to  solve  this  mystery.  l^Tor  are  the  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  it,  limited  upon  any  such  condition.  Yea, 
rather  may  we  observe — and  observe  to  take  the  warning — 
that  this  presumptuous  intruding  into  the  secret  things  of 
God,  is  most  commonly  visited  with  that  strojig  delusion, 
which  leads  to  believing  a  lie,  or  which  is  the  same  thing, 
to  unljelief. 

On  the  question  of  fact,  then,  it  is,  that  this  doctrine  must 
ever  rest,  for  its  reception  or  rejection  among  Christians. 
This  its  opponents  well  know,  as  also  that  the  fact  is  against 
them.    To  obscure  this  fact,  therefore,  and  if  possible,  to  dis- 


84  A  FAREWELL   DISC0UE8E. 

prove  it,  by  invalidating  the  testimony  for  it  in  the  "record 
whicli  God  hath  given  to  us  of  his  Son,"  has  been  their  main 
object.  To  this  end,  the  learning,  the  critical  skill  and  in- 
genuity of  the  whole  body  of  unbelievers,  has  been  put  in 
requisition.  The  original  text  of  the  Scriptures  has  been 
twisted  into  every  contortion  of  various  reading;  the  sound 
and  acknowledged  canons  of  criticism  liave  been  disregarded 
and  perverted;  the  established  rules  of  grammatical  construc- 
tion have  been  violated:  but  all  in  vain,  except  to  "preten- 
ders to  science  falsely  so  called,"  to  superficial  sciolists,  and 
proud  contemners  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  of  the  wants 
of  our  fallen  nature.  To  the  sound  scholar,  and  at  tiie  same 
time  fair  and  candid  man,  the  weakness  of  their  cause,  and 
futility  of  the  arguments  with  which  they  would  support  it, 
are  apparent;  because  no  otherwise  than  by  a  combined  vio- 
lation of  the  meaning  of  language,  of  the  rules  of  grammar, 
and  of  the  dictates  of  common  sense,  can  they  obtain  even  a 
show  of  success  to  their  cause.  To  such  an  one,  the  word  of 
revelation  is  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  their  abortive 
attempts.  It  stands  amid  this  war  of  infidels,  like  an  un- 
shaken rock  in  the  raging  ocean,  whose  proud  waves  lash 
themselves  to  froth  against  its  base,  while  its  summit  shines 
serene  and  peaceful  amid  the  sunbeams  of  heaven. 

But  it  is  not  only  to  the  learned,  that  it  is  given  to  enjoy 
this  satisfactory  proof  of  the  divinity  of  our  blessed  Redeemer. 
No,  my  brethren,  thanks  be  to  God,  every  real  Christian, 
whether  learned  or  not,  is  furnished  with  it,  in  his  experience 
of  that  gospel  in  which  it  is  revealed,  and  which  is  "the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth." 
For  there  is  no  one,  who  has  been  truly  convinced  of  sin  by 
the  Spirit  of  God — who  has  been  brought  to  feel  what  it  is, 
in  its  malignity,  as  an  off'ence  against  God,  how  infinite  in 
its  guilt,  and  damnable  in  its  very  nature — and  has  been 
enabled  by  the  same  Holy  Spirit  to  believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  as  the  great  sin-oflering,  through  whom  only 
pardon  and  grace  can  be  obtained — who  can  entertain  any 
doubt  of  the  infinite  virtue  of  that  atonement  (and,  of  course, 
of  the  infinite  nature  of  him  who  made  it,)  wherel^y  "God  can 
be  just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus." 

Being  thus  furnished,  my  brethren,  in  the  express  revela- 


A   FAREWELL   DISCOURSE.  85 

tion  wliicli  God  liatb  made  to  us  concerning  his  son  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  and  (if  we  are  Christians  indeed)  in  our 
experience  of  the  efficacy  of  his  word  and  grace  upon  our 
liearts  and  lives,  with  the  most  irrefragable  testimony  for  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  let  us  cleave  to  this  true 
and  faithful  witness;  and  building  ourselves  up  in  our  most 
lioly  faith,  ''continue  steadfast  and  unmovable,"  in  the  belief 
of  this  article  of  the  catholic  faith,  as  the  only  doctrine  whicli 
makes  Christianity  consistent  with  itself — with  its  author — 
with  its  object;  as  the  only  foundation  on  which  faith  can  be 
fixed  with  assurance,  hope  entertained  with  reason,  and 
eternal  life  realized  by  the  sinners  who  descend  from  Adam. 
If  tiiere  are  any  in  this  world  descended  from  another  stock, 
they  may  sport  with  this  doctrine:  but  to  us,  my  brethren, 
there  is  hope  only  in  "the  Lord  our  righteousness;"  and  in 
him  no  otherwise  than  as  he  is  "God  over  all,  blessed  for 
evei',"  and  therefore  "able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  who 
come  unto  God  by  him." 

I  did  intq^id,  my  brethren,  to  have  applied  this  duty  to 
the  belief  of  tlie  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  as  the  faith  of  the 
one  Catholic  Apostolic  Church:  but  the  time  will  not  permit. 
This,  however,  is  the  less  to  be  regretted,  as  whatever  tends 
to  establisli  the  divinity  of  the  Saviour,  is  conclusive,  so  ftir, 
for  the  Trinity  of  persons  in  the  unity  of  the  Godiiead.  Let 
iiie  say  this  mucii,  however;  that  it  is  a  doctrine,  like  that  of 
tlie  incarnation,  or  the  being  of  God  himself,  revealed  to  our 
fa'ith  only;  that  is,  dependent  for  its  reception  and  obliga- 
tion, solely  on  the  authority  of  the  revealer,  and  not  on  any 
ca])acity  in  us  to  understand  and  unravel  its  mysteries. 

1  come  now  to  the 

IL  Second  head  of  my  text,  which  is,  to  lay  before  you 
the  necessity  and  advantage  of  diligence  and  engagement  in 
all  your  Christian  duties. 

It  is  a  humbling  reflection,  my  brethren,  but  one  which 
may  be  very  profitably  applied,  that  the  constant  tendency 
of  our  fallen  natures  is,  rather  to  become  remiss,  to  faint  and 
grow  weary  in  the  Christian  race,  than  to  "press  towards  the 
mark,  lor  the  i)rize  of  our  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
-Jesus."  To  this  various  causes  contribute;  the  corruption  of 
our  nature,  the  Aveakness  of  our  faith,  the  temptations  of  the 


S6  A  FAREWELL   DISCOURSE. 

world,  the  care  of  onr  necessaiy  business,  and  the  use  made 
of  all  these  by  the  enemy  of  our  souls,  ever  on  the  watch  to 
ensnare  us.  There  is,  however,  one  more,  not  often  thought 
of;  and  that  is,  the  measuring  oui'sclves  by  others,  the  taking 
a  standard  of  Christian  attainment  from  those  around  us,  and 
not  from  the  word  of  God. 

In  exhorting  you,  then,  to  diligence  and  earnestness  in  all 
your  Christian  duties,  let  rae  warn  you  against  the  insidious 
influence  of  this  false  estimate;  let  me  beseech  you  to  guard 
against  it  with  care,  for  it  is  tiie  commencement  of  that 
slothfulness  which  begets  indifference,  and  ends  in  "a  form  of 
godliness  without  the  power." 

My  brethren,  it  is  not  sufficient  that  our  lives  be  orderly 
and  decent,  free  from  the  crying  enormities  of  the  openly 
proi'ane  and  ungodly.  This  will  not  fulfill  the  injunction  of 
"abounding  always  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  A  higher  ex- 
ample  is  called  for,  from  the  Christian,  both  in  his  own  pri- 
vate deportment,  and  in  his  connexion  with  others.  He  is 
to  "let  his  light  shine  before  men;"  which  cert^iinly  implies 
such  a  marked  and  decided  preference  of  his  eternal  interests, 
and  such  a  constant  and  habitual  pursuit  of  them,  as  shows 
that  he  is  "seeking  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his 
righteousness." 

Yes,  my  brethren,  tlie  religion  of  the  Gospel  is  a  living, 
practical  principle,  of  love  to  God,  of  obedience  to  his  holy 
laws,  of  faith  in  his  revealed  word,  and  hope  in  his  precious 
promises,  through  Jesus  Christ,  wrought  in  the  heart  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  pervading  our  whole  condition, 
operating  on  all  our  concerns,  and  manifesting  its  sanctified 
influence  by  fruits  of  righteousness  in  the  life  and  conver- 
sation of  the  man.  Yet  while  it  is  thus  heavenly  and  spiritual 
in  its  origin  and  nature,  it  is  a  principle  wisely  adapted  to 
our  condition  as  moral  beings,  requiring  our  hearty  con- 
currence and  co-operation — our  laithful  and  diligent  improve- 
ment of  grace  given.  It  is  God  indeed  "that  worketh  in  us 
both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure,"  or,  rather,  as 
the  word  should  be  translated,  of  his  "goodness;"  but  it  is 
for  this  very  reason  that  he  requires  us  "to  work  out  our  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,"  that  is,  with  care  and 
diligence;  and  enforces  this  practical  principle  of  all  godli* 


A   FAREWELL   t»ISCOtJESE.  ST 

ness  with  the  solemn  and  equitable  declaration,  "unto  every 
one  that  hath,  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance, 
but  from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even  that 
which  he  hath." 

Hence  the  necessity  of  diligence  and  earnestness  in  re- 
ligion, is  just  the  necessity  of  being  saved  at  all;  without 
these,  there  can  be  no  progress,  no  advancement,  no  growth 
in  grace,  no  improvement,  and,  as  we  learn  from  the  parable 
of  the  talents,  no  salvation.  "Cast  ye  the  unprofitable  ser- 
vant into  outer  darkness,"  because  he  slothfully  hid  his 
talent  in  the  earth,  and  gave  not  my  money  to  the  exchangers. 

And  the  advantage  of  thus  "abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,"  is  i^recisely  the  advantage  of  greater  inclination  to, 
and  enlarged  ability  for,  the  performance  of  our  various 
duties;  with  increased  enjoyment  of  that  inward  peace  and 
satisfaction  of  spirit,  which  flows  from  conformity  to  the  will 
of  God.  And  herein,  my  brethren,  the  appointments  of 
divine  wisdom  in  the  kingdom  of  grace  are  directed  upon  the 
same  principle  with  those  in  the  kingdom  of  nature.  As 
knowledge,  industry,  care  and  diligence,  yea  and  self-denial 
too,  are  essential  to  success  in  worldly  undertakings;  so  are 
they  indispensable  to  the  same  end,  in  those  which  are 
heavenly;  and  we  may  just  as  reasonably  exj^ect  to  reap 
where  we  have  not  sowed,  as  to  hope  for  the  reward  of  glory, 
without  earnest  and  persevering  endeavor. 

Shall,  then,  the  children  of  this  world  still  be  wiser  in  their 
generation  tlian  the  children  of  light?  Shall  they  bring  every 
thonght  into  obedience,  every  passion  into  subjection,  and 
every  elFort  to  bear  upon  the  master-wish  of  their  souls?  and' 
Christians  remain  cold  and  languid,  and  indifferent  to  the 
holy  hope  which  they  profess  to  entertain?  Shall  the  ser- 
vants of  the  god  of  this  world,  by  theii'  zeal  and  earnestness, 
put  to  shame  the  servants  of  the  God  of  heaven?  Shall  they 
who  strive  for  an  earthly  croWn,  leave  behind  them  in  the 
race,  those  who  strive  for  one  heavenly  and  eternal?  God 
forbid! 

Yet  how  is  it  with  us,  my  brethren,  in  this  respect?  Where 
are  our  atfections  laid  up;  in  heaven,  or  upon  earth,  or  mixed 
of  both?  O,  purge  out  the  dross,  "that  ye  may  grow  up  an 
holy  temple  un-t-o  the  Lord,"     O,  keep  near  your  hearts  tha 


88  A   FAKEWELL   DISCOURSE. 

solemn  thonglit  of  that  awful  morning,  when  tbe  voice  of  tlie 
archangel  and  the  trump  of  God  shall  call  up  our  sleeping 
dust,  to  meet  the  judgment  of  Chkist;  and  let  it  re-act  to  stir 
you  up  to  that  diligence,  without  which  there  is  no  crowH 
of  glory — to  diligence  in  personal  religion — to  diligence  in 
those  duties  which  you  have  solemnlj-  engaged,  before  God, 
to  perform  towards  your  children — to  diligence  in  watchful- 
ness against  the  deluding  and  dangerous  pleasures  of  that 
world,  which  you  have  openly  renounced  for  them  and  for 
yourselves — to  diligence  in  the  performance  of  all  the  charities 
of  life,  which  spread  peace  and  good-will  around  you,  and 
mark  jou  as  the  disciple  of  that  master  "w.ho  went  about 
doing  good."  Seek  no  release  from  the  full  measure  of  your 
duties;  yield  to  no  compromise  with  the  world  and  the  flesh; 
fear  no  reproach  for  tlie  name  of  Christ;  but  "continue  stead- 
fast, unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Loei>, 
forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the 

LOKD." 

Which  brings  me  to  the  last  head  of  my  discourse,  to-wit: 

III.  The  reward  which  awaits  the  faithful. 

To  what  this  is  in  itself,  my  feeble  tongue  can  add  nothing, 
ray  brethren;  for  even  inspiration  shrinks  from  the  attem]>t^ 
as  beyond  the  reach  both  of  utterance  and  imagination:  but 
the  reward  is  not,  therefore,  either  the  less  sure,  or  the  less 
glorious. 

Suffice  it,  then,  to  say,  that  it  will  l)e  happiness — unmixed 
felicity — flowing  from  tiie  unclouded  presence  and  favor  of 
God,  upon  creatures  sublimated  and  prepared  for  its  recep- 
tion and  enjoyment.  It  will  be  unalloyed  bliss,  increased  by 
the  presence  of  that  merciful  Saviour,  who  "loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,"  and  drawing 
forth  from  every  heart  tlmse  rapturous  ascriptions  of  glorj 
and  praise  to  God  and  the  Lamb,  of  which  immortal  natures 
alone  are  capable;  adding  even  to  the  blessedness  of  our  Ee- 
deemer,  when  he  thus  "sees  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  '  and 
reaps  the  full  fruit  of  his  mighty  conflict  with  sin  and  death. 
in  the  millions  for  ever  rescued  from  their  power. 

It  will  moreover  be  eternal;  liable  to  no  diminution,  sub- 
ject to  no  change,  free  from  all  interruptions,  and  knowing 
BO  end,  for  ever  blessed,  and  for  ever  increasing  in  blessed- 


A   FAREWELL   DISCOUKSE. 


89 


ness:  and  what  can  I  say  more,  mj  brethren,  but  this?     Who 
then    shall   separate   ns    from   the   love   of  Christ,   which 
hath  purchased  so  lively  a  hope   for  ijs?     Shall   imbelief 
freeze  up  our  hearts  against  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus? 
Shall  indolence  and  carelessness  beget  indifference  to  so  un- 
speakable a  reward;  shall  the  cares  of  this  life  shut  out  the 
cure  of  our  immortal  souls;  shall  the  pleasures  or  the  profits 
of  the  world  ensnare  us  to  barter  eternity  for  time?     In  a 
word,  shall  Christ  die  in  vain  for  any  of  us,  to  whom  he  is 
ottered  as  a  Saviour?     God  forbid!    Keep,  then,  ever  present 
to  you,  my  brethren,  that  special   doctrine,  upon  which  the 
exhortation  of  my  text  is  founded,  resurrection  of  the  hody. 
This  gives  to  that  eternal  life  which  we  hope  for,  a  peculiar 
character,  and  to  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  a  singular  in- 
fluence.    We  shall  meet  again,  dear  brethren,  and  with  a 
personal  knowledge  of  each  other.     We  shall  meet  again 
with  a  clear  recollection  of  all  that  we  have  enjoyed  or  suffer- 
ed together  here.     We  shall  meet  again  under  the  influence 
of  all  those  sweet  charities,  which  constitute  the  happiness  of 
the  present  life,  refined  and  spiritualized  to  the  nature  of 
immortals,  yet  forming  a  part  of  the  blessedness  of  heaven. 
Upon  these,  therefore,  it  is,  that  the  practical  duties  of  re- 
ligion are  made  to  bear.     Our  love  to  God  must  be  mani- 
fested by  love  to  each  other,  and  our  fitness  for  heaven  de- 
termined by  its  influence  on  our  lives  here.     Let,  tlien,  this 
solemn  and  encouraging  doctrine  be  realized  in  all  its  extent; 
for  by  this,  we  look  forward  with  hope  and  joy,  to  a  re-union 
with  those  who  have  already  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  before 
us:  by  this,  we  are  enabled  to  surrender  to  God,  without 
murmuring,  those  he  sees  fit  to  take  from  us,  however  dear: 
by  this,  the  duties  we  are  prompted  to  by  natural  afiection, 
towards  our  families,  friends,  and  neighbors,  are  sanctified  to 
a  holier  purpose:  by  this,  the  narrow  boundary  of  time  is 
overstepped,  and  what  we  now  are,  is  united  with  what  we 
shall  be,  when  time  shall  be  no  longer,  and  "God  shall  be  all 
in  all." 

And  now,  dear  brethren,  what  remains,  but  thati  "commend 
you  to  God  and  the  word  of  his  grace" — which  I  do  most 
heartily.  The  near  relation  in  which  we  have  stood  to  each 
other  for  the  last  seven  years,  is  about  to  determine.     But 


90  A  PAEEWELL   DISCOUKSE. 

nothing,  I  think,  can  determine  the  aflPection  I  bear  towards 
jou,  but  that  stroke,  which  shall  determine  all  earthly  things. 
*'Ye  are  in  our  heart  to  live  and  die  with  you;"  but  the  provi- 
dence of  God  hath  ordered  otherwise:  for  I  sought  neither 
the  change  nor  the  promotion.  In  many  things,  doubtless,  I 
Lave  come  short  in  the  duty  I  owed  you,  but  not  with  inten- 
tion: for  all  which  I  humbly  crave  pardon  of  God,  and  of 
you:  but  in  notliing  have  you  failed  that  you  owed  to  me, 
save,  onl}^,  in  carrying  your  respect  for  me  too  far;  and  would 
you  make  me  more  your  debtor,  continue  your  regard  to  my 
successor,  in  whom  I  feel  a  confidence  which  lessens  my 
anxiety  in  leaving  you. 

Under  the  pain  of  separating  from  you,  it  is  pleasant,  how- 
ever, to  reflect,  that  during  the  whole  time  I  have  been  in 
charge  of  this  parish,  I  have  had  no  necessity  to  resort  to 
public  censure  upon  any  of  the  members  of  the  Church — 
private  admonition  having  been  sufficient:  and  even  to  that, 
but  in  a  few  instances.  Continue  thus,  then,  my  brethren, 
that  your  own  comfort  and  peace  may  be  increased,  and  that 
the  God  of  love  and  peace  may  be  with  you. 

"Now,  unto  him  who  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and 
to  present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory,  with 
exceeding  joy;  to  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory 
and  majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  for  ever. 
Amen." 


A  SERMON  ON  THE   CHURCH, 

DELIVERED   BEFORE    THE 

ANNUAL  CONVENTION  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA, 

■      IN  ST.  JOHN'S  CHURCH,  WILLIAMSBOROUGH,  GRANVILLE  COUNTY, 

Mat  6,  1824. 

Amos,  vu,  5,  latter  clause. 
"By  whom  shall  Jacob  arise?  for  he  is  small." 

The  providences  and  dealings  of  Almighty  God,  for  and 
with  his  Church,  form  a  very  conspicuous  and  instructive 
portion  of  the  inspired  writings.  Indeed  we  might  be  justi- 
fied in  observing,  that  the  whole  scheme  of  revelation  and 
prophecy  is  predicated  on  the  existence  of  a  body  or  society 
of  men,  distinct  from  and  called  out  of  the  world,  as  the  pe- 
culiar jyeople  o/'God;  and  that  the  dealings  of  God,  whether 
in  acts  of  mercy,  or  in  the  infliction  of  judgments,  refer  pri- 
marily to  this  his  inheritance;  through  that,  to  the  rest  of 
mankind,  and  ultimately,  as  we  are  warranted  in  believing  and 
saying,  to  the  higher  intelligences  of  the  unseen  world.  "To 
the  intent,"  (says  the  apostle  to  the  Ephesians,  iii.  10.)  "that 
now,  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places, 
might  be  known  by  the  Church,  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God." 

Thus  divine  in  its  origin,  influential  in  its  character,  and 
single  in  its  designation,  it  presents  a  subject  of  the  most  im- 
pressive consideration  to  all  mankind;  inasmuch,  as  it  is  only 
in  connexion  with  this  body  or  society,  that  the  revealed  pro- 
mises and  hopes  given  in  and  by  Jesus  Christ,  are  assured 
to  men,  and  the  appointed  means  of  grace  and  salvation 
brought  within  their  reach. 

Under  this  view,  a  brief  notice  of  the  distinctive  character 
of  the  Church,  as  presented  in  the  Scriptures,  will  prepare 
the  way  for  an  appropriate  improvement  of  the  text. 

That  this  point  has  been  greatly  neglected,  and  held  back 
from  the  public  edification  of  Christians,  even  by  those  who 
were  nevertheless  entrusted  with  its  defence  and  support,  is 


92  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHUKCH. 

unhappily  too  evident,  and  tlie  consequences  are  such,  as  to 
warn  both  ministers  and  people,  that  it  is  time  to  retrace 
their  steps;  and  by  considering  this  vital  doctrine  in  its  ap- 
plication to  the  hope  of  man  as  a  sinner,  to  learn  its  influ- 
ential bearing  on  the  advancement  of  pure  and  undefiled 
religion  in  the  world. 

I  feel,  my  reverend  brethren,  as  I  doubt  not  you  also  do — 
the  full  difficulty  with  which  long  neglect,  and  the  conse- 
quent prevalence,  and  almost  establishment,  of  erroneous 
opinion,  invests  the  subject.  But  I  trust  that  I  feel,  and  that 
you  feel,  the  awful  responsibility  of  our  i-espective  steward- 
ships, and  are  prepared  to  meet  whatever  may  be  required 
by  a  conscientious  discharge  of  duty.  And  I  trust  also,  that 
you,  my  brethren  of  the  laity,  feel  that  lively  interest  in  the 
cause  we  have  in  hand,  which  shall  ensure  your  hearty  co- 
operation in  such  plans  for  the  revival  of  the  Church  in 
her  pure  and  primitive  character,  as  its  present  condition, 
aTid  the  means  in  our  control,  shall  render  advisable;  while 
I  cannot  permit  myself  to  suppose,  that  amid  the  variety  of 
opinions  on  this  subject  now  before  me,  there  can  one  be 
found,  by  whom  it  will  be  considered  an  unnecessary  or  un- 
profitable discussion.  Error,  my  dear  hearers,  however  sanc- 
tioned b}'  time  and  numbers,  still  retains  its  character:  truth, 
however  obscured  by  ignorance  or  prejudice,  or  rejected  by 
men,  is  yet  eternal  and  uncliangeable  as  its  author.  And 
when  eternity,  with  all  its  glories,  or  with  all  its  horrors,  is 
suspended  upon  truth  or  error,  here  received  and  followed; 
the  astounded  exclamation  of  Pilate,  before  our  blessed  Lokd, 
"What  is  truth?"  should  burst  from  all  our  lips,  and  engage 
our  inquiries. 

To  every  class  of  m}'  hearers,  then,  I  must  believe  that  a 
candid  and  scriptural,  though  necessarily  brief,  inquiry  into 
the  origin  and  purpose  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  appoint- 
ments of  Heaven  in  it,  for  the  salvation  of  man,  must  be  both 
desirable  and  profitable.  Wliile  to  us,  my  clerical  and  lay 
brethren  of  this  convention,  it  is  essential  to  the  right  per- 
formance of  the  duties  devolved  on  us,  that  we  view  the  sub- 
ject in  this  light,  as  well  as  in  the  causes  which  contributed 
to  its  decline;  otherwise,  with  the  best  intentions,  our  efibrts 
may  prove  abortive,  because  erroneously  devised  and  impro- 


A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHURCH.  93 

perly  directed,    li  Jacob  is  ever  to  arise,  it  must  be  as  Jacob, 
and  not  as  Esau. 

First,  as  to  the  origiii  of  the  Church. 

That  the  Church  is  divine  in  its  origin,  and  in  the  appoint- 
ments connected  with  it,  is  so  generally  admitted  a  doctrine, 
that  the  less  may  sutiice  on  this  point;  yet  it  ought  ever  to  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  this  divine  institution  of  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  God,  is  not  an  abstract  idea  to  be  entertained  in 
the  mind;  but  an  actual,  visible,  accessible  body  or  society, 
for  practical  use;  deriving  its  constitution,  laws  and  authori- 
ity,  directly  from  God.  As  such,  it  is  placed  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  human  appointment,  addition,  or  alteration;  and 
this  so  strictly,  that  all  the  wisdom,  piety,  and  authority  in 
the  world,  congregated  together,  is  just  as  incompetent  to 
originate  a  Church,  as  to  call  another  universe  into  existence. 
This,  however,  will  be  more  evident,  when  we  come,  in  the 
next  j^lace,  to  consider  the  purpose  of  such  an  institution.  And 
as  this  is  the  key  which  unlocks  all  the  difficulties  that  sur- 
round this  subject,  from  the  divided  state  of  the  Christian 
world,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  what  led  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Church  as  a  distinct  body,  with  a  visible 
and  verifiable  character. 

The  dispensations  of  Heaven's  mercy  and  wisdom  for  the 
salvation  of  fallen  man,  are  presented  to  us  under  various 
aspects;  all  of  which  are  closely  connected  with  each  other; 
yet  with  marks  of  distinct  discrimination,  manifesting,  never- 
theless, that  it  is  the  same  plan,  modified  and  fitted  by  the 
Almighty  himself,  to  the  condition  of  that  poor,  perverse, 
and  opposing  being,  for  whose  benefit  it  was  all  provided, 
and  who  has  never  ceased  to  corrupt  and  depart  from  it,  in 
every  age  of  the  world. 

Under  i\\Q  first,  or  Patriarchal  dispensation,  as  it  is  called, 
of  religion,  as  the  benefits  of  the  covenant  of  redemption 
were  to  be  continued  in  their  knowledge  and  operation,  by 
the  influence  of  parental  instruction,  and  a  family  priesthood, 
no  particular  designation  as  a  Church,  or  visible  society,  with 
privileges  and  obligations,  promises  and  helps,  of  a  special 
description,  was  marked  out.  Each  family  composed  a  Church 
for  the  worship  of  God,  and  was  furnished  with  the  necessary 
means  of  grace  within  itself,  in  the  offering  of  that  sacrifice 


94  A   SERMON   ON    THE   CHUKCH. 

which  prefigured  "the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world,"  and  was  appointed  and  intended,  to  keep  alive  in 
the  minds  of  men  the  knowledge  of  their  fallen  condition, 
and  of  the  only  method  of  recovery  from  it. 

When,  however,  an  experience  of  one  thousand  and  five 
hundred  years  had  proved  that  the  corruption  of  human  na- 
ture was  too  powerful  to  be  withstood  and  counteracted  by 
this  method  of  continuing  the  influence  of  religion  in  the 
world;  and  when  a  farther  trial  of  the  same  means,  for  the 
space  of  five  hundred  years  more,  under  the  fresh  remem- 
brance, too,  of  the  recent  destruction  of  the  ungodly  by  the 
general  deluge,  and  the  still  more  recent  visitation  of  the 
dispersion  at  Babel,  had  demonstrated,  that  they  "did  not 
like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge;"  but  had  "corrupted 
their  way  before  him,"  and  departed  from  both  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  his  institutions — then  it  pleased  the  merciful  Saviour 
of  poor  sinners  again  to  interpose;  and  by  selecting  from  this 
mass  of  corruption,  another  family,  through  that  to  restore, 
and  continue  in  the  world,  the  true  knowledge  of  God,  of  the 
worship  acceptable  to  him,  of  the  expectation  of  a  Deliverer, 
in  the  promised  seed  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  means  of  that 
grace  by  which  only  can  fallen  man  be  "renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  his  mind,"  delivered  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin,  and 
from  that  eternal  death  which  is  its  only  wages. 

In  this,  the  second  dispensation  of  true  religion  provided 
for  mankind,  the  distinction  from  that  which  preceded  it,  to 
be  most  carefully  marked  and  considered  by  us,  is,  its  cove- 
nanted and  peculiar  character;  in  other  words,  the  limited 
and  prescribed  conditions,  on  which,  only,  its  privileges  and 
advantages  can  be  obtained.  If  we  overlook  this,  we  over- 
look its  most  distinguishing  feature,  lose  that  deeply  imj^res- 
sive  lesson,  which  it  was  intended  to  teach  us,  and  pass  over 
the  most  interesting,  because  most  influential  part  of  the 
whole  transaction;  that  of  a  new  relation  to  God,  conferred 
upon  men  by  outward  and  visible  marks,  and  henceforth 
confined  and  limited  within  this  institution.  For  it  is  this, 
and  this  only,  my  brethren  and  friends,  which  marks  its  sep- 
aration from  the  rest  of  the  world,  as  the  Church,  the  pecu- 
lium,  the  elect  of  God.  Because  of  this  its  distinctive  cha- 
racter it  was  made  the  risible  and  only  depository  of  his 


A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHUECII.  95 

revealed  will  and  precious  promises.  For  certainty  and  as- 
surance, to  this  Cliurch  were  committed  those  lively  oracles 
of  divine  truth,  which  were  corrupted  and  lost  under  the  cus- 
tody of  tradition.  And  in  it  was  prepared  and  established 
that  body  of  testimony  to  the  person  and  offices  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  promised  seed  of  the  woman,  which  shines  so 
brio-ht,  so  enlivening,  comfortable,  and  irrefragable  to  us, 
under  the  gospel.  Through  this  channel  only,  was  to  flow 
hereafter,  that  chain  of  revelation,  prophecy,  and  providence, 
which  constitutes  and  confirms  the  hope  of  man.  And  to 
mark  its  dignity  and  pre-eminence,  and  to  fulfill  the  wise 
purposes  of  its  founder,  the  condition  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
in  the  rise  and  fall  of  its  kingdoms,  and  in  the  operation  of 
its  various  events,  is  overruled,  and  made  subservient  to  the 
advancement,  enlargement,  and  final  establishment  of  this 
kingdom  of  C4od  upon  the  earth,  against  all  the  opposition  of 
men  and  devils  combined. 

For  the  order  and  uniformity  of  the  public,  prescribed, 
and,  therefore,  only  acceptable  service  of  God,  in  this  his 
sanctuary,  a  divinely  constituted  priesthood  was  appointed, 
through  which  alone,  were  the  people  permitted  to  present 
their  united  worship,  to  offer  up  the  proper  sacrifice  for  per- 
sonal as  well  as  general  sin,  and  to  draw  assurance  of  for- 
giveness, through  the  efficacy  of  that  great  sin-offering,  atone- 
ment, and  expiation,  which  all  their  sacrifices  represented. 

Hence,  my  brethren,  the  singular  and  personal  character 
under  which  it  is  spoken  of,  throughout  the  Scriptures;  that 
sacred  unity  with  which  it  is  invested:  hence  that  zeal  for  its 
purity  and  interest,  so  constantlj^  manifested,  and  that  care 
with  which  its  constitution  and  government  were  fenced 
against  all  intrusion. 

Hence  also,  the  strono-  lano-uao-e  in  which  its  endurance  or 
everlasting  continuance  is  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures;  which 
proves  that  it  was  not  a  temporary  appointment;  but  insepa- 
rably connected  with  the  wonderful  plan  of  man's  redemp- 
tion, and  to  run  parallel  with  it,  and  to  be  efficient  in  it, 
"until  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  great  de^p — and  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ." 


96  A   SERMON   OX   THE   CHURCH. 

Here,  then,  my  brethren  and  friends,  let  us  pause  a  mo- 
ment, and  look  back  and  reflect,  what  would  have  been  the 
state  of  the  world,  what  woukl  have  been  our  individual  con- 
dition, had  this  wise  and  merciful  provision  of  the  love  of 
God  never  been  appointed;  had  men  been  left,  as  justly  they 
might  have  been,  to  the  influence  of  traditional  knowledge, 
as  tiie  ground  and  the  means  of  salvatiou  fur  sinners — and 
let  the  awful  religious  blank  which  the  thought  reflects  back 
upon  the  mind,  awaken  us  to  consider  more  carefully  the 
foundation  on  which  we  arc  building  fur  eternity;  whether 
on  this  certified  and  verifiable  basis  of  God's  appointment, 
or  on  some  presumptuous  imitation  of  its  lineaments,  by  the 
weak  and  incompetent  intrusion  of  human  wisdom. — "1  speak 
as  unto  wise  men,  judge  ye  what  I  say." 

But  to  proceed.  Thus  divine  in  its  origin,  constitution, 
and  appointments,  definite  in  its  purpose,  and  singular  in  its 
character,  the  Old  Testament  Church  stands  alone  in  the 
world,  like  the  ark  on  the  waters  of  the  deluge,  the  sole  de- 
pository of  the  truth  and  of  the  people  of  God;  nor  is  their 
access  to  it,  nor  admission  within  its  saving  enclosure,  other- 
wise than  according  to  the  institution  of  its  founder.  It  was 
competent  to  no  man — not  even  to  Lot,  or  to  Melchizedec — 
to  obtain  its  privileges,  without  its  seal.  Whatever  of  mercy 
might  be  in  store  for  them  and  the  rest  of  mankind  observing 
"the  law  written  in  the  heart,"  it  was  not  the  pledged  and 
promised  mercy  made  over  to  the  Church.  Whatever  the 
truth  or  reasonableness  of  any  religious  duty  might  be;  how- 
over  well  founded  the  hope  of  God's  favor,  from  conformity 
to  the  dictates  of  natural  conscience;  it  was  not  the  truth  con- 
firmed by  express  revelation:  it  was  not  the  hope  which 
springs  from  the  promise  of  God,  certified  by  outward,  visi- 
ble, and  appointed  ordinances,  as  helps  to  faith,  means  of 
grace,  and  assurances  of  a  relationship  to  God  in  which  none 
other  stood,  transacted  through  an  authorized  and  accredited 
ager.t. 

This,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  is  that  deeply  impressive 
and  influential  character  in  which  "the  Church  of  the  living 
God"  is  presented  to  our  notice  and  use,  in  working  out  our 
eternal  salvation.  This  is  that  commanding  feature,  by  which 
it  is  to  be  distinguished  by  us  from  all  imitations  of  it  by 


A  SEKMOX   ON   THE    CHURCH.  97 

either  the  piety  or  the  presumption  of  fallible  men;  and  it  is 
by  tracing  it,  according  to  this  its  specific  character,  through 
all  the  dealings  and  providences  of  its  founder,  that  we,  at 
this  day,  are  enabled  to  discover  and  distinguish  this  ark  of 
safety,  this  special  deposit  of  the  promises  of  God  to  a  fallen 
world,  this  authorized  source  of  agency  between  heaven  and 
earth.  For  the  Church  of  Christ,  under  the  Kew  Testament 
dispensation,  is  not  a  new  or  fre^h  appointment  of  God,  in 
the  sense  and  meaning  too  commonly  entertained;  but  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  old,  in  all  its  essential  provisions.  The  same, 
and  not  a  new  divine  origination;  the  same,  and  not  a  fresh 
devised  constitution  of  government,  administration,  and  au- 
thority; with  the  same  and  not  another  holy  purpose  of  sepa- 
ration, certainty  and  assurance  to  men,  in  things  spiritual 
and  invisible;  and  this,  upon  the  sure  ground,  that  Jesus 
Christ  "is  the  same,  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever." 

From  not  attending  to  this  essential  point  to  the  very  be- 
ing of  a  Church,  room  has  been  given  for  the  intrusion  of 
man's  presumption  into  this  sacred  appointment,  and  to  deal 
with  it  as  the  creature  of  his  contrivance,  as  a  thing  subject 
to  his  alteration  and  amendment.     By  losing  sight  of  the 
intimate  relation  and  analogy  between  the  Old  and  Xew 
Testament  dispensations;  by  failing  to  consider  the  one  as 
perfective  of  the  other,  confusion  and  obscurity  on  this  sub- 
ject have  spread  over  the  Christian  world;  and  division  and 
distraction,  instead  of  union  and  peace,  have  been  the  bitter 
fruit;  while  the  event  has  fulfilled  the  prediction  of  our  Lord, 
in  impeding  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and  encouraging  that 
infidel  spirit  which  turns  away  from  the  truth  because  those 
who  call  themselves  the  disciples  of  Christ,  bite  and  devour 
one  another.     Above  all,  by  neglecting  to  apply  the  test 
which  God  himself  has  provided,  whereby  to  determine  the 
certainty  with  which  we  are  transacting  our  spiritual  aftairs, 
in  the  very  natural  inquiry — "By  what  authority  doest  thou 
these  things?"  and  substituting,  in  lieu  thereof,  the  reputed 
piety  and  holiness  of  particular  men,  has  the  darkness  be- 
come thicker  and  blacker,  and  the  powerful  prejudices  of 
pride  and  profession  been  enlisted  against  the  truth;  so  that 
men — reasonable  beings,  with  the  light  of  God's  word  in  their 
[Vol.  1,— *7.] 


9-S  A   SERMON   ON   THE  CHUKCHT. 

Lands — contentedly  trust  their  souls  to  a  security,  on  whicTs 
they  would  not  risk  their  estates. 

Yet  the  truth  reniaineth,  my  brethren  and  friends,  unaf- 
fected in  its  lieavenly  and  unchangeable  nature  by. any  pei'- 
verseness  and  opposition  of  men.  And  to  us  it  is  given,  by 
the  distinguishing  mercy  of  God,  to  know  and  ascertain  the 
truth,  to  the  comfort  and  health  of  our  souls.  The  Churcb 
also — "the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,"  the  peculium  of 
God — by  the  same  distinguishing  mercy,  yet  remaineth,  lin- 
gering as  it  were,  with  us,  and  verifiable,  by  the  same  hea- 
venly original,  divine  authority,  and  saving  purpose,  which 
constitute  its  sacred  character.  As  such,  it  is  presented  to 
your  consideration  this  day,  my  hearers,  in  a  point  of  view 
in  which  you  may  never  have  regarded  it;  briefly,  it  is  true;, 
yet  sufficiently  plain  to  enable  every  man,  with  his  Bible  in 
his  hand,  to  determine  the  question  for  himself.  And  sure 
I  am,  that  this  is  the  only  representation  of  the  subject  which 
can  correct  erroneous  notions,  or  confirm  those  which  are 
true;  the  only  ground  on  which  there  is  any  foundation  for 
faith  to  rest  upon,  any  assurance  of  hope  in  the  revealed 
mercy  of  God.  For  I  am  yet  to  learn,  where-  a  promise  of 
God  to  fallen  man  is  to  be  found,  that  is  not  limited  on  the 
previous  condition,  that  he  be  a  member  of  Christ's  visible 
Church  upon  earth. 

Having  thus  given  a  faint  outline  of  the  origin,  purpose,, 
and  importance  of  the  Church,  as  an  appointment  of  Al- 
mighty God  in  the  gracious  plan  of  our  redemption,  I  will 
make  a  few  remarks  on  that  branch  of  the  true  vine  which 
has  been  planted  in  this  portion  of  the  Lord's  vineyard. 

Of  the  early  state  of  the  Church  in  this  diocese,  the  notices 
are  so  scanty,  and  my  information  so  limited,  that  there  i* 
no  safe  ground  on  which  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  state  of 
religion  within  our  communion,  previous  to  the  recent  efibrt 
to  revive  the  cause  in  the  year  1817. 

The  journals  of  the  General  Convention,  and  the  lists  of 
the  clergy  in  each  State  therein  j)ublished,  give  no  notice  tiuit 
the  Episcopal  Church  was  even  knowai  by  name  in  North 
Carolina.  It  is  nevertheless  certain,  that  the  Church  was  co- 
eval with  the  establishment  of  a  regular  government,  and 
bad  spread  the  knowledge  of  her  doctrines  and  liturgy,  and. 


A   SERMON   OX   THE   CHUECH.  99 

formed  regular  congregations  for  the  worship  of  God,  as  far 
west  as  the  middle  counties  of  the  State. 

We  must,  therefore,  refer  the  decline,  and  almost  extin- 
guishment of  the  Church  here,  to  the  same  causes  which 
operated  throughout  this  vast  continent,  to-wit:  the  just  judg- 
ment of  Almighty  God,  on  the  sins  and  iniquities  of  his  peo- 
ple. To  ascribe  the  depression  of  the  Church  to  political 
causes  solely^  is  to  reverse  the  order  of  His  providence  who 
over-rules  and  directs  the  aifairs  of  the  world,  to  the  final 
triumph  of  his  spiritual  kingdom. 

The  long  period,  however,  during  which  the  people  were 
deprived  of  the  services  of  the  sanctuary,  could  not  fail  to 
operate  injuriously.  We  gradually  forget  our  dearest  friends, 
my  brethren,  when  removed  from  all  intercourse  with  them. 
We  soon  seek  to  form  new  connexions,  and  we  cleave  to 
them  the  closer,  perhaps,  because  of  previous  privation.  And 
thus  it  fared  with  the  Church.  Multitudes,  who  would  never 
have  deserted  the  fold,  were  forced  by  want  and  jirivation 
into  strange  pastures.  Still  greater  numbers  have  grown  up 
in  ignorance  of  her  claims,  and  even  of  her  existence;  while 
the  pride  of  opinion,  reluctance  to  acknowledge  an  error,  and 
the  modern  fallacies  of  liberality  in  religious  opinion,  and 
equal  safety  in  all  religious  denominations,  keej)  back  many 
who  once  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  her  sound  and  safe  minis- 
trations, and  bid  fair  to  establish  the  notion,  that  no  religious 
profession  is  necessary — thus  demonstrating  by  experience, 
that  in  proportion  as  you  weaken  the  vital  doctrine  of  the 
visible  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  by  acknowledging 
communions  erected  by  human  authority,  you  encourage  the 
growth  of  infidelity  and  impiety.  And  it  requires  but  a  fair 
consideration  of  the  efiects  which  have  followed  the  divisions 
among  Christians,  and  the  consequent  adoption  of  liberal 
opinions,  to  demonstrate  the  alarming  fact,  that  if  the  Church 
of  God  may  be  found  every  where,  it  will  soon  be  sought  no 
where.  Indifference  to  religion  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
such  pestilent  notions;  and  this  is  the  sum  total  of  gain  from 
this  so  much  boasted  system  of  liberal  opinions. 

Yet  the  arm  stretched  out  upon  his  inheritance  was,  and  is, 
an  arm  of  mercy.  A  remnant  was  left.  "Jacob,"  indeed, 
*'was  made  thin,  and  the  fatness  of  his  flesh  became  lean;" 


100  A   SEEMON   ON   THE   CHUKCH. 

yet  "gleaning  grapes  were  left  in  the  vineyard,  as  the  shaking 
of  an  olive  tree;  two  or  three  berries  in  the  top  of  the  upper- 
most bough."  It  was  a  praying  remnant,  and  it  pleased  God 
to  open  his  ear  to  liearken. 

For  that  remnant,  then,  it  is,  and  for  those  whom  God  hath 
added  to  them,  and  for  the  deluded  multitudes  who  are  living 
"without  God  in  the  world,"  we  are  met,  in  the  fear  of  God, 
I  trust,  and  in  the  hope  of  his  guidance  and  direction  in  our 
counsels,  to  consult  and  devise  things  profitable,  prosperous, 
and  iiappy;  the  things  which  accompany  salvation.  Let  us 
then  inquire. 

Thirdly,  by  whom  shall  Jacob  arise? 

And  by  whom,  my  brethren  and  friends,  can  Zion  "arise 
and  shake  herself  from  the  dust,  and  put  on  lier  beautiful 
garments,  and  become  the  praise  of  the  whole  earth,"  but  by 
that  Almighty  arm  which  upliolds  the  universe;  by  that  ever 
living  Head,  who  hath  pledged  his  promise,  that  "the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her?" 

On  that  promise  I  am  built:  on  that  providence  I  am  staid: 
and  when  I  consider  the  marked  interposition  of  his  hand  in 
the  commencement  and  progress  of  this  work;  when  I  reflect, 
that  by  him  who  ins23ireth  the  counsels  and  ordereth  the 
doings  of  the  children  of  men,  I  meet  you  here  this  day,  in 
the  station  wdiich  I  fill  in  his  Church,  I  bend  in  humble 
adoration  before  his  wonder  working  power;  I  rely,  with  un- 
shaken confidence,  in  his  abiding  faithfulness;  and  give  my- 
self to  the  work,  in  the  firm  belief  that  the  set  time  to  favor 
Zion  is  come.  Well  may  we  say,  dear  brethren,  "What  liath 
God  wrought?"  and  in  contemplation  of  what  he  hath  already 
done,  be  strengthened  and  encouraged  to  be  workers  to- 
gether with  him,  in  "building  up  the  waste  places  of  Jerusa- 
lem." I  have  been  among  them,  my  brethren — among  the 
earliest  records  of  the  piety  of  our  forefathers;  and  my  heart 
yearned  over  the  ancient,  and  decaying,  and  now  too  often 
silent  temples.  I  have  been  among  the  ancient  Simeons  and 
Annas,  servants  of  the  Lord,  who  "take  pleasure  in  the  stones, 
and  favor  even  the  dust  of  Zion;"  who  have  prayed  and  fainted 
not,  through  a  long  night  of  darkness  and  bereavement;  and 
I  have  seen  the  smile  of  transport,  and  the  flush  of  hope,  and 
the  fervor  of  devout  and  grateful  praise,  light  up  their  patri- 


A   SERMON   ON   THE    CHURCH.  101 

avclial  countenances  as  the  promise  of  a  brighter  clay  dawned 
upon  their  children;  and  I  felt  that  it  would  not  be  disappointed. 

In  this  lioly  hope,  then,  let  us  continually  look  up  to  our 
great  covenant  Head,  and  ever  merciful  Redeemer;  beseech- 
ing him  to  inspire  our  prayers,  direct  our  counsels,  and  pros- 
per our  endeavors,  "to  the  advancement  of  his  glory,  tlie  good 
of  Ills  Church,  the  safety,  honor,  and  welfare  of  his  people." 

But  while  it  is  by  the  Lord  only,  that  "Jacob  can  arise," 
it  is  by  the  use  of  means  within  our  reach — by  joining  our 
earnest  endeavors  to  our  united  prayers,  that  this  most  de- 
sirable work  is  to  be  carried  on  and  effected. 

First,  then,  because  of  the  highest  concernment,  let  us.  my 
brethren,  ever  bear  in  mind,  from  what  causes  the  depression 
and  downfall  of  the  Church  originally  proceeded,  and  guard 
carefully  against  a  return  of  the  same  evil.  Throughout  the 
whole  historj-  of  God's  dealings  with  his  Churcli,  we  may 
see,  that  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon  his  people,  or  the 
Iiidinofs  of  his  face  from  them;  the  communication  of  his  favor 
to  them,  or  the  infliction  of  his  judgments  on  them;  have  ever 
been  regulated,  according  as  ])iety  or  ungodliness  prevailed 
among  them.  Now,  all  these  things,  we  are  instructed, 
^'happened  unto  thejn  for  ensamples,  and  are  written  for  our 
adniDuition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come." 
llai>py,  then,  will  it  be  for  us,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  if 
we  take  warning  by  this  more  recent  example  and  proof, 
that  the  same  order  of  his  providence  yet  subsists;  and  keep 
ourselves  fi-om  the  evil  way  of  profession  without  practice, 
religion  without  holiness.  Many  suppose,  that  in  the  Epis- 
copal Chui-ch  a  greater  laxity  is  allowed  than  in  other  de- 
nominations. But  tliis  manifests  a  total  ignorance  of  all  our 
institutions.  Xo  countenance  is  given  or  allowed  to  what  is 
sinful;  nor  can  any  denomination  pretend  to  greater  strict- 
ness, than  is  required  by  the  Canons  and  Kubricks  of  the 
Church.  We  cannot  help  it,  my  brethren,  if  persons  whose 
conduct  is  a  scandal  to  all  Christian  profession,  will  call 
themselves  Episcopalians:  the  discipline  of  the  Church  can  be 
ap])lied  only  to  those  who  are  known  and  received  as  com- 
municants; and  by  those,  compared  with  any  other  denomi- 
nation, we  fear  not  to  be  tested;  yet  with  us,  whatever  may 
be  the  case  with  other  professions,  we  know  and  confess,  that 


102  A   SEEMON   ON   THE   CIIUKCII. 

much  of  the  old  leaven  has  to  be  purged  out;  and  this  will  \vq 
do,  if  God  permit. 

To  this  point,  then,  my  brethren,  let  us  bend  our  united 
attention;  taking  away  occasion  from  those  wlio  seek  it,  and 
wiping  out  the  reproach  against  us;  firmly  setting  our  faces 
against  all  conformit}'  with  the  world  in  its  ungodliness;  and 
withholding  our  fellowship  from  all  who  walk  disorderly. 
This  we  owe  to  our  own  souls,  to  the  honor  of  God,  to  the 
credit  and  advancement  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  souls  of 
others:  we  owe  it  to  that  forbearino;  goodness  which  has  once 
more  revived  us,  and  in  agreement  with  which  only,  we  can 
hope  to  prosper. 

As  holiness  is  the  mark  of  God's  children,  we  are  called  to 
holiness,  to  severance  from  the  world,  its  idolatrous  pursuits, 
its  vain  and  vicious  pleasures,  in  ourselves  and  in  our 
families,  '^Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be 
separate,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive 
you,  and  be  a  father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and 
daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty. — Having,  therefore, 
these  promises,  dearly  beloved,  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from 
all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God." 

This  is  the  doctrine  of  tiie  Episcopal  Church;  this  is  the 
practice  in  the  life,  which  all  her  precepts  inculcate  upon  her 
members;  which  her  discipline  is  constructed  to  enforce,  and 
which  no  endeavors  of  mine  shall  be  wanting,  God  being  my 
helper,  to  bring  to  full  effect.  And  here  I  am  truly  thank- 
ful that  so  many  circumstances  concur  to  favor  us  in  this 
essential  work,  l^o  wide  spread,  inveterate  habit  of  ungod- 
liness, has  yet  had  time  to  take  root  among  us,  and  cause 
alarm  at  the  extent  of  the  excision  required.  Jacobs  indeed, 
is  small^  but  he  is  young  also,  and  comparatively  free  from 
the  great  transgression.  Be  it  our  care,  then,  one  and  all, 
dear  brethren,  that  as  he  increases  in  stature,  he  may  "grow  in 
grace,"  and  "increase"  also  "in  favor  both  with  God  and  man." 

Whatever  reproach  of  this  nature  is  brought  against  our 
commimion  as  yet,  is  brought  from  a  distance,  and  there  let 
us  resolve  that  it  shall  remain;  whatever  is  now  to  perform 
of  the  painful  duty  of  reproof  and  correction,  is  comparatively 
light;  and  (blessed  be  God  for  it)  there  is  no  diversity  of 


A   SEEMON   ON   THE   CHUECH.  lOS 

•opinion  among  those  who  have  the  care  of  the  flock.  United 
iai  tliis,  as  in  all  other  points  which  concern  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  our  Zion,  we  may  humbly  trust  to  build  up  those 
committed  to  our  charge,  "an  holy  temple  unto  the  Loed." 

Second!}',  that  "Jacob  may  arise"  as  Jacob,  it  is  essential 
that  the  doctrines  and  worship  prescribed  in  the  articles  and 
liturgy  of  the  Church,  be  faithfully  preache,d  and  adhered  to 
by  all  of  her  communion. 

On  you,  ray  brethren  of  the  clergy,  depend  the  hopes  of 
the  Church  in  this  diocese,  for  this  means  of  resuscitation. 
This  precious  deposit  she  has  committed  to  your  fidelity,  and 
at  your  hands  does  she  recpiire  that  it  be  exercised  for  the 
increase  of  the  body. 

And  here  again  I  have  to  bless  God,  that  "the  lines  are 
fallen  to  me  in  pleasant  places" — that  however  small  the 
number,  it  is  a  little  phalanx  of  men  sound  in  faith,  and 
united  with  me  in  oue  mind,  and  in  one  doctrine;  that  on  no 
point  is  there  such  a  division  of  sentiment  as  leads  to  a  di- 
versity of  practice;  but  all  can  go  hand  in  hand  to  the  object 
before  us;  that  however  feeble  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  it  is 
a  band  of  brothers,  who  have  themselves  experienced  the 
j)ower  and  efficacy  of  the  truths  they  preach — who  know  and 
feel  that  they  are  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,"  and  are 
therefore  able  to  teach  others  also — who  admire  and  love  the 
scriptural  simplicity,  devotional  sublimity,  and  doctrinal  se- 
curity, of  that  form  of  sound  words,  in  which  they  lead  the 
public  worship  of  the  sanctuary — who  know  that  the  liturgy 
of  the  Church  is  the  great  bulwark  of  "the  faith  once  com- 
mitted to  the  saints;"  the  tried  safeguard  against  the  heresies 
of  the  day,  of  all  who  use  it  with  the  understanding  and  the 
affections. 

Tiius  favored  of  God,  my  burden,  dear  brethren,  is  com- 
paratively light — while  my  hope  is  animated,  that  with  such 
workmen,  the  edifice  will  arise,  beautiful  in  its  proportions, 
resplendent  in  holiness,  and  "the  praise  of  the  whole  earth." 

The  foundation  on  which  it  rests,  is  "the  rock  Cheist,''  con- 
fessed, and  believed  on,  as  "God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever" 
— "who  for  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation,  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  was  incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  and  was  made  man,  and  was  crucified  also  for  us, 


104  A   SEKMON   ON   TDE   CnUECH. 

under  Pontius  Pilate."  The  beauty  of  its  proportions  con- 
sists in  the  harmony  of  tliat  unsearcliable  wisdom — whereby 
"mercy  and  truth  are  met  together,  righteousness  and  peace 
liave  kissed  each  otlier" — in  the  unspeakable  mystery  of  God 
made  sin^  that  man  might  "be  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him."  And  the  splendor  of  its  embellishment,  in  the 
union  of  all  its  members,  in  the  "faith  which  w^orketh  by 
love,"  the  "hope  which  maketh  not  asliamed,"  and  the 
"charity  whicli  never  failetli." 

This  is  the  blessed  fruit  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  and 
of  the  Church,  "truly  preached,  truly  received,  and  truly 
followed."  The  myster}'-  of  godliness,  tluTt  "God  was  nuini- 
fest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preach- 
ed unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world,  received  up 
into  glory,"  is  the  "new  sharp  threshing  instrument"  pre- 
dicted by  the  jirophet,  M'herewith  to  break  down  the  kingdom 
of  sin,  Satan,  and  death.  "Fear  not,  thou  worm  Jacob,  and 
ye  men  of  Israel,  I  will  keep  thee,  saith  the  Lord,  and  thy 
Redeemer,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  Behold  I  will  make  thee 
a  new  sharp  threshing  instrument,  having  teeth.  Thou  slialt 
thresh  the  mountains,  and  beat  tliem  small,  and  shalt  make 
the  hills  as  chaff.  Thou  shalt  fan  them,  and  the  wind  shall 
carry  them  away,  and  the  whirlwind  shall  scatter  them;  and 
thou  shalt  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  shalt  glory  in  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel." 

On  the  doctrines  of  the  cross,  then,  as  you  have  taken, 
maintain  your  stand,  my  reverend  brethren.  Preach  then^ 
in  the  simplicity  and  sincerity  of  hearts  that  feel  them,  with 
the  earnestness  of  men  who  wish  to  save  their  own  souls,  and 
the  souls  of  others.  The  entire  spiritual  death,  and  alienation 
of  man  from  God,  by  the  entertainment  of  sin;  the  recon- 
ciliation of  God  to  the  world,  by  the  sufferings  and  deatii  of 
his  only  begotten  Son;  the  atonement  of  his  blood;  justifica- 
tion by  faith;  acceptance  through  the  merits  of  the  Saviour; 
conversion  of  the  heart  to  God;  holiness  of  life,  the  only  evi- 
dence of  it;  and  tlie  grace  of  God,  in  the  renewal  of  the  Holy 
GiiosT,  the  sole  agent  from  first  to  last,  in  working  out  our 
salvation  from  sin  here,  and  from  hell  hereafter.  In  fewer 
Words,  "salvation  by  grace,  through  faith,  not  of  works,  lest 
any  man  should  boast." 


A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHURCH.  105 

But  with  these  vital  and  heaven-blessed  doctrines,  other 
points  of  edification  to  those  of  your  charge,  and  to  3'our  gen- 
eral hearers,  will  require  your  attention,  my  reverend  bro- 
thers; particularly  that  of  the  distinctive  cliaracter  of  the 
Church.     On  this,  a  most  lamentable  ignorance  prevails,  and 
most  unfounded  opinions  are  becoming  established,  not  only 
among  Episcopalians,  but  at  large.     To  permit  this  ignorance 
to  continue  undisturbed,  is  to  be  false  to  our  ordination  vows, 
to  our  acknowledged  principles,  to  the  interests  of  our  com- 
munion, and  to  the  souls  committed  to  our  care;  and  however 
amiable  in  appearance  the  principle  on  which  we  act  may 
be,  reflection  shows  it  to  be  a  mistahen  one,  and  experience 
proves  it  to  have  been  injurious.     If  we  hold  principles  that 
are  indefensible,  let  us  abandon  them.     But  if  they  are  our 
principles,  interwoven  into  the  vevj  frame  of  our  polity,  im- 
pregnable in  their  truth,  and  essential  in  the  great  work  we 
have  in  hand;  let  us  not  appear  ashamed  of  them,  or  weakly 
afraid  of  the  consequences,  and  thus  become  parties  to  that 
miserable  delusion,  which  weakens  us  as  a  body,  strengthens 
the  ranks  of  our  adversaries,  and,  I  will  fearlessly  say,  weak- 
ens the  cause  of  true  religion,  by  tacitly  owning  one  division 
after  another,  until  the  great  master  principle  of  the  Church  of 
God,  its  unity,  is  merged  in  the  mass  of  Christian  names,  and 
swallowed  up  by  the  indifference  and  infidelity  thus  fostered. 
If,  then,  we  would  be  found  faithful  to  ourselves,  to  the 
Church  whose  commission  we  bear,  and  to  the  souls  commit- 
ted to. our  trust;  this  doctrine  of  the  distinctive  character  of 
the  Church  must  be  fully  unfolded,  and  laid  before  our  peo- 
ple.    Their  attention  must  be  called  to  it,  on  the  grounds  of 
scriptural  reason.     The  purpose  of  this  wise  and  merciful 
appointment  of  ALivnoHTY  God,  in  the  salvation  of  sinners, 
must  be  dwelt  upon  and  enforced,  by  all  those  weighty  argu- 
ments and  authorities  wliich  the  word  of  God  so  richly  sup- 
plies.    The  importance  and  efficacy  of  authorized  ministra- 
tions— of  valid  sacraments, — must  be  elucidated  and  con- 
firmed, by  the  analogies  which   govern  men  in  temporary 
things,  and  by  the  method  so  demonstrably  resorted  to  by 
God  himself,  both  under  the  law  and  under  the  gospel;  to 
give  certainty  and  assurance  to  men  in  things  so  mispeaka- 
bly  important.     These  are  the  points  to  be  presented  to  our 


106  A   SEEMON    ON   THE   CHUECH. 

peojjle,  to  be  pressed  upon  the  understandings  and  the 
feelings  of  our  hearers,  in  connexion  with  the  other  doctrines 
of  the  gospel — that  they  may  learn  to  estimate  aright  their 
privileges;  and  valuing,  to  cleave  to  them. 

Thirdly,  that  "Jacob  may  arise"  in  his  true  character,  a 
steadfast  and  uniform  adherence  to  the  liturgy  and  offices  of 
the  Church,  as  set  forth  in  the  book  of  Common  Prayer  and 
Administration  of  the  Sacraments,  must  be  observed. 

In  this  duty  it  is  my  happiness  to  believe  that  you,  my 
reverend  brethren,  are  found  faithful.  As  honest  men,  inde- 
pendent of  your  Christian  character,  I  could  expect  no  less. 
But  in  this  liberal  and  latitudinarian  age,  this  duty  is  some- 
times rendered  painful,  by  the  wish  to  yield  in  some  degree 
to  the  prejudices  of  a  mixed  congregation;  and  by  the  hope 
that  conforming  in  this  respect,  they  may  be  won  over.  In 
aid  of  this  dereliction  of  duty,  the  points  objected  are  artfullj'' 
re23resented  as  things  indifferent  in  themselves,  and  therefore, 
to  be  yielded  in  favor  of  Christian  fellowship.  All  this, 
however,  is  mere  pretence;  for,  if  they  are  points  really  indif- 
ferent, the  fault  must  ever  be  with  those  who  on  such  grounds 
separate  themselves  from  what  never  can  be  viewed  with  in- 
diffei'ence  by  any  serious  person.  And  whatever  j)retences 
may  be  urged,  they  are  all  fallacious,  and  proved  to  be  so  by 
experience.  For  whatever  the  principle  of  accommodation 
may  be  capable'of  in  others,  it  has  ever  failed  in  points  of 
religious  dissent;  and  I  am  yet  to  learn,  in  what  instances  the 
surrender  of  principles,  or  even  of  distinctive  points,  has  pro- 
fited those  who  have  tried  the  dangerous  experiment.  My 
brethren,  the  attempt  has  ever  been  in  vain,  and  has  issued 
in  weakening  and  degrading  those  who  have  resorted  to  it; 
and  the  reason  is  obvious:  principles,  religious  principles  es- 
pecially, are  presumed  to  be  well  considered — adopted  as  the 
best,  and  on  the  highest  authority.  To  hold  thera,  then,  as 
things  that  may  be  dispensed  witii,  may  be  accommodated, 
may  he  yielded,  is  viewed  as  the  mark  of  a  weak  or  an  in- 
sincere mind. 

To  act  uijun  this  expectation,  then,  is  to  court  defeat,  while 
it  is  at  tlie  same  time  to  ex]»use  ourselves  to  contempt,  as  men 
of  lax  iinnciples,  and  designing  conduct; — a  stigma  of  all 
othei's  the  most  severe  upcju  a  minister  of  religion;  who,  in 
coiiiiiKin  with  all  Christians,  \mt  in  a  higher  degree,  ought  to 


A  SEKMON  ON  THE  CHUECH.  107 

"have  his  conversation  in  the  world,  in  simplicity,  and  godly 
sincerity."  And  what  has  been  the  eflect  of  such  a  course, 
in  the  trials  that  have  unhappily  been  made  by  Episcopal 
clergymen?  Has  our  communion  gained  or  lost  by  it?  Where 
is  the  addition  obtained  by  this  surrender  of  private  and  pub- 
lic principle?  It  has  lost,  my  reverend  and  lay  brethren,  by 
this  Judas-like  method  of  betraying  it  into  the  hands  of  its 
enemies,  with  a  kiss. 

And  what  have  the  individuals,  who  have  thus  acted, 
gained  by  it?  They  have  gained  the  name,  perhaps,  of  lib- 
eral and  charitable;  and  have  lost  the  esteem  of  all  sound 
churchmen;  while  they  have  not  gained  the  confidence  of 
those,  who,  nevertheless,  flattered  their  enlarged  views  of 
Christian  liberty,  and  evangelical  piety;  because,  in  the  midst 
of  this  flattery,  they  are  obliged  to  view  them  as  false  to  the 
most  solemn  pledges  that  can  be  given  of  sincerity  of  opin- 
ion, and  integrity  of  practice. 

In  all  such  cases,  the  question  with  an  Episcopal  clergy- 
man is  not,  whether  our  general  principles,  or  our  method  of 
conducting  public  worship  by  a  fixed  form,  be  scriptural, 
profitable,  or  even  evangelical;  this  ought  to  have  been  set- 
tled on  the  most  serious  investigation,  before  he  assumes  the 
orders  of  the  Church.  Whatever  discretion  he  had  as  to  this 
and  other  points  of  required  conformity,  is  then  given  up;  nor 
can  he  continue  to  wear  the  livery  of  the  Church,  and  thus 
act,  without  the  guilt  of  the  most  sublimated  perjury. 

Alas!  that  it  should  be  necessary  to  warn  against  the  influ- 
ence of  such  an  example  elsewhere.  But  as  the  evil  exists, 
and  this  view  of  the  subject  includes  every  plea  for  noncon- 
formity to  the  doctrines  and  worship  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States,  I  think  it  due  to  you,  and 
to  the  sincerity  with  which  I  am  bound  to  act,  to  show  dis- 
tinctly, at  the  commencement  of  my  administration,  the  prin- 
ciples by  wliich  I  am  guided. 

Fourthly,  for  the  increase  and  advancement  of  true  godli- 
ness, let  me  recommend  the  observance  and  cultivation  of 
family  religion. 

Without  this  root  and  spring,  under  God,  of  "all  holy  de- 
sires, all  good  counsels,  and  all  just  works,"  hope  is  vain  for 
the  Church  and  the  State;  we  shall  sink  into  a  nation  of  infi- 
dels. 


108  A  SERMON  ON  THE  CHURCH. 

That  the  practice  has  declined  in  tlie  families  of  professing 
Christians;  that  it  is  abandoned  in  all  others,  is  known  by  all 
who  hear  rae  at  tliis  moment.  And  that  the  conseqnences 
are  the  bitter  fruit  of  increasing  crime  and  profaneness,  is 
recorded  in  every  court,  and  witnessed  by  every  Sabbath. 

But,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  could  this  be  so,  were  the 
principles  of  our  holy  religion  early  and  carefully  instilled 
into  tlie  minds  of  the  rising  hope  of  this  great  and  growing 
Christian  nation?  Were  tlie  fear  of  God,  and  the  reverence 
of  his  most  holy  name,  and  the  observance  of  his  worship, 
and  the  knowledge  of  his  life-giving  precepts,  inculcated  and 
manifested  in  our  families,  would  so  little  of  it  be  seen  in  the 
world?  Awake,  then,  from  this  torpor,  ye  Christian  fathers 
and  mothers — from  this  deadly  delusion  of  adulterated  reli- 
gion, which  is  so  fast  swallowing  up  the  dearest  hope  you 
can  entertain  of  a  happy  eternity,  with  those  who  are  dearest 
to  you  here.  Trample  under  your  feet  those  pestilent  doc- 
trines which  inevitably  lead  to  this  criminal  neglect,  by  con- 
fiding the  hope,  and  by  necessary  consequence,  the  duties  of 
the  gospel,  to  a  chosen  few.  Arise  to  the  blessed  assurance 
of  God's  public  message  by  his  only  begotten  Son — "that  he 
hath  not  appointed  you  or  them  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  sal- 
vation by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ; — who,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  tasted  death  for  every  man."  Believe  this,  his  true  and 
faithful  word,  against  all  the  sophistry  of  men;  diligently  use 
and  apply  the  means  provided  by  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God,  for  your  advancement  in  knowledge,  and  growth  in 
grace;  and  no  longer  suffer  your  cliild)-en  to  grow  up  like  the 
wild  ass's  colt,  alike  ignorant  of  God  and  of  themselves,  of 
the  word  of  his  grace,  of  his  Sabbaths,  his  ordinances,  his 
mercies,  his  judgments,  and  that  eternity,  in  which  all  these 
end,  and  where  you  and  they  must  meet,  to  enjoy  or  to  suffer 
for  ever,  according  to  the  improvement  or  abuse  here,  of  the 
talents  committed  to  your  trust. 

Oh!  it  is  an  awakening  thought  to  contemplate  a  family, 
godless,  under  the  gospel,  assembled  before  the  judgment 
seat  of  Christ,  and  to  carry  out  the  consequence  to  the  mis- 
ery that  awaits  them;  and  that  misery  doubled  by  the  near 
and  dear  ties  which  connect  them;  hell  made  hotter  by  the 
endless  reproach — we  neglected  our  children's  souls — my 


A  SEEMON  ON  THE  CHUECH.  109 

father  and  motlier  hardened   me  against  God — they  trained 
me  to  pei'dition. 

OhI  it  is  a  lieart-cheering,  soul-enlivening  vision,  to  go  in 
the  mind's  meditation,  with  the  faithful  father  and  mother, 
to  the  same  awful  tribunal,  and  see  the  holy  confidence  with 
which  thej  stand  and  say — "Behold  us  Loed,  and  the  chil- 
dren thou  hast  given  us."  "\Ve  have  taught  them  thy  fear; 
and  by  thy  grace  kept  them  in  the  way;  we  surrender  them 
to  thy  mercy,  through  thy  dear  Son.  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servants,  ye  have  been  faithful  in  a  few  things,  enter 
ye  into  the  joy  of  you*'  Lord."  But  who  can  spe«ak  that  joy, 
when  all  the  dear  ties  of  nature  in  this  life  shall  be  refined, 
purified  and  perpetuated  in  glory;  when  conjugal,  parental, 
and  filial  love,  shall  be  swallowed  up,  but  not  lost,  in  the 
love  and  enjoyment  of  God  for  ever? 

And  is  this,  dear  brethren,  a  result  in  the  one  case  to  be 
shunned  as  destruction;  in  the  other  to  be  desired  as  life?  O, 
if  it  bel — (and  what  Christian  parent  does  not  feel  that  it  is 
all  this?) — let  the  plain  and  certain  road  to  the  attainment  of 
this  blessedness  be  pursued  by  all.  Discard  for  ever,  my 
brethren  and  hearers,  this  murderous  neglect  of  the  souls  of 
your  children  and  servants;  and  as  you  are  able,  call  them 
round  the  family  altar,  and  invoke  the  blessing,  the  promised 
blessing  of  God,  upon  your  holy  purpose:  restrain  them  from 
all  violations  of  the  Loed's  day;  cultivate  his  fear  in  their 
hearts;  and  show,  by  the  example  of  your  lives,  that  you  fear 
his  name,  and  hope  in  his  mercy. 

Especially  upon  you,  my  Episcopal  bretliren,  is  this  pi-i- 
mary  duty  enforced,  by  every  principle  you  profess,  by  every 
obligation  that  can  be  undertaken,  and  by  every  sanction 
known  to  time  and  to  eternity.  Your  baptismal  sponsion  for 
your  children  involves  it,  by  the  solemn  stipulations  then  en- 
tered into;  and  the  promises  of  God  therein  sealed  to  them 
is  your  full  and  sufficient  warrant  to  engage  in  this  fruitful 
work,  with  assurance  of  success.  Let,  then,  the  inscriptions 
on  your  dwellings  be,  "As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will 
serve  the  Loed."  To  this  source  of  supply  the  Church  looks, 
for  the  enlargement  of  her  border,  the  extension  of  her  com- 
munion— for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  its  triumph  over 
all  its  enemies. 

And  to  what  other  source  can  we  reasonably  look,  my 


110  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHURCH. 

bretlirea,  not  only  for  the  advancement,  but  for  the  continu- 
ance of  religion  among  us?  Let  us  ask  ourseh^es,  and  reflect 
seriously  upon  it — what  proportion  do  the  conversions,  wiiich 
we  occasionally  hear  of,  bear  to  the  nurjibers  annually  com- 
ing into  and  going  out  of  life?  In  this  State,  do  they  amount 
to  five  hundred  in  the  year — to  one  for  every  thousand  of  its 
population?  I  know  not;  but  I  doubt  it.  But  say  they  amount 
to  five  times  this  number,  and  are  all  sound  conversions  of 
the  heart  to  God — what  is  this  to  the  annual  drain  by  death, 
of  souls  dead  to  God,  unprepared  for  eternity?  "What  to  the 
multitudes  "who  know  not  God,  and  fbey  not  the  gospel  ul 
our  Lord  Jesus  Cheist;"  who  have  grown  up  without  him, 
and  must  in  all  probability  die  without  him?  What  is  this 
to  the  thousands  coming  forward  into  life,  the  hope  of  days 
to  come,  equally  unfurnished?  O,  let  the  alarming  calcula- 
tion startle  us  from  this  delusion  of  double  death,  and 
convert  us  from  dependence  on  the  extraordinary,  to  the 
serious  use  of  the  ordinary  means  which  God  has  provided, 
commanded,  and  promised  to  bless,  in  "training  up  our  chil- 
dren in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord;"  that  his 
converting  grace  may  change  their  hearts,  transform  their 
lives,  and  enrich  the  Church  and  the  world  with  sound  and 
instructed  believers,  serious  and  experienced  Christians,  and 
firm  j^rofessors  of  the  hope  of  the  gospel.  Thus,  and  thus 
only,  shall  the  objections  of  the  infidel  be  done  away;  the 
vain  reasonings  of  the  disjDuter  of  this  world  be  answered  and 
refuted;  and  the  means  corresponding  with  the  end,  and  the 
fruit  crowning  the  work,  make  all  men  see,  that  "God  is  with 
us  of  a  truth."  Thus  "adorning  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Sa- 
viour," by  the  union  of  profession  and  practice,  "Jacob  shall 
arise,"  and  his  light  shine.  Thus  shall  "his  seed  possess  the 
gate  of  his  enemies,  and  the  Lord  whom  we  seek  shall  sud- 
denly come  to  his  temple,  and  the  glory  of  this  latter  liouse 
shall  be  greater  than  the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts." 

Lastly. — Our  pecuuiarj'  means  must  be  reserved  for  the 
wants  of  our  own  communion. 

This  is  so  plain  and  obvious  a  duty,  that  at  first  sight  it 
M'ould  appear  superfluous  to  mention  it;  yet  certain  it  is,  that 
in  this  respect  Episcopalians  have  manifested  an  easiness  in 
j-ielding  to  the  solicitations  of. other  denominations,  which 
can  be  justified  on  no  sound  principle  of  regard  for  the  Church, 


A   SEKMOX   ON  THE   CHUKCHi.  Ill 

or  feeling  sense  of  the  wants  and  privations  of  their  im- 
mediate brethren;  and  the  time  I  think  is  come,  when  it  is- 
absolutely  necessary  to  act  diiferentlv.  "Jacob  is  small," 
and  he  must  continue  so,  if  his  patrimony  is  squandered  upon 
strangers.  It  is  the  dictate  of  inspired  wisdom,  my  brethren^ 
"that  if  SLuy  provide  not  for  his  own,  especially  those  of  his- 
own  house — he  hath  denied  tlie  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an 
infidel."  This  rule,  both  of  reason  and  religion,  will  apply 
in  the  closest  manner  to  the  present  condition  of  the  Churcli 
in  this  diocese,  and  to  the  present  duty  of  all  the  members 
and  friends  of  our  communion,  and  should  regulate  and  re- 
strain the  indiscriminate  expenditure  of  her  means,  for  pur- 
poses which,  if  not  hostile,  are  certainly  unj)rofitable. 

If  I  could  paint  to  you,  as  vividly  as  I  have  witnessed  and 
now  feel,  the  destitute  condition  of  our  brethren — men  agree- 
ing in  faith,  doctrine,  and  worship  with  ourselves — and  the 
general  call  there  is,  "come  over  and  help  us;"  the  necessity 
as  well  as  propriety,  in  the  truest  religious  sense,  of  adopting 
and  acting  henceforth  upon  this  principle,  would  need  no  en- 
forcement from  me.  Tour  hearts  would  feel  for  congrega- 
tions destitute  of  ministers  and  ordinances;  Jacob's  feeble 
liands  would  not  be  lifted  up  in  vain;  the  Church  of  your 
fathers  and  of  your  affections  would  no  longer  be  dry  nursed, 
to  succor  her  opponents;  but  all  would  be  united  for  one  ob- 
ject, and  your  bounty  flow  in  one  enriching  stream  of  nourish- 
ment, growth,  and  strength  to  our  Zion.  Oh!  if  I  had  but 
the  thousands,  which  have  heretofore  been  drawn  away  from 
her  exigencies,  how  easily  would  all  our  wants  of  this  kind 
be  supplied.  It  is  gone,  however,  and  regret  will  not  bring 
it  back.  But  if  it  shall  teach  us  to  adopt  and  adhere 'to  a 
different  course  for  the  time  to  come,  it  will  so  far  be  a  gain^ 
and  there  is  yet  enough  left  in  the  piety,  and  affection,  and 
afQuence  of  the  EjDiscopal  body  in  this  diocese,  to  meet  all 
our  reasonable  demands.  All  that  is  required,  is  to  act 
upon  principle,  by  system. 

Much  will  be  said  against  this  my  advice  to  you,  my 
brethren,  and  I  doubt  not  it  will  be  called  illiberal,  un- 
charitable, perhaps  unchristian.  But  by  whom  will  such 
truly  unchristian  terms  be  applied  to  it?  By  those  only, 
whose  interest  it  is  that  you  should  not  discriminate.  By 
those,   who   act  themselves,  as   a   body^  and  rigidly   too,. 


112  A   SEKMON   ON   THE   CIIUECH. 

upon  this  very  principle — who  have  drawn  largely  on  the 
easiness,  or  inditferencc  of  your  liberality;  but  have  never 
returned  a  cent  for  the  dollar,  to  our  wants,  and  never  will; 
or  by  those  who  cloak  real  disregard  to  all  religion,  under 
the  motley  mask  of  equal  regard  for  all  denominations.  Ee- 
gard  them  not,  therefore,  my  brethren;  but  strong  in  the 
soundness  of  the  principle,  and  the  obligation  of  the  duty,  as 
Christians  and  Churchmen,  reserve  what  you  have  to  spare 
in  the  service  of  religion,  fur  the  wants  of  your  own  com- 
munion. That  certaiidy  has  the  first  and  highest  claim  upon 
your  abilit}',  upon  your  bounty;  a  claim  which  no  sophistry 
can  invalidate — which  no  mistaken  views  of  liberality  and 
charity  towards  the  opinions  or  the  j)ractices  of  others,  should 
either  weaken  or  defeat. 

According,  then,  as  the  distinctive  character  of  the  Church  is 
understood  in  its  principles,  applied  in  the  use,  and  regarded  in 
the  liearts  of  its  members,  will  it  be  cherished  and  will  flourish. 
According  as  the  walk  and  conversation  in  the  world  of  those 
who  call  themselves  Episcopalians,  shall  be  "as  becometh  the 
gospel  of  Christ,"  will  its  high,  because  heaven-descended 
claims,  be  owned,  acknowledged,  and  acted  upon,  in  the  re- 
generation of  a  fallen  world;  and  according  as  we  show,  that  it 
is  all  this  in  our  estimation,  my  clerical  and  lay  brethren,  by 
the  zeal  and  earnestness  with  which  we  unite  and  persevere 
in  the  work  we  have  in  hand,  "will  Jacob  arise — will  a  little 
one  become  a  thousand,  and  a  small  one  a  strong  nation." 

To  this  work  you  have  called  me;  to  this  work  the  Lord 
through  you  hath  devoted  me;  and  to  3^our  service,  such  as  I 
am,  I  give  myself  without  reserve.  Accept,  then,  the  first 
fruits  of  the  deep  concern  I  feel  for  your  advancement;  of  the 
observation  and  experience  I  have  had  opportunity  for,  and 
of  that  sacred  regard  for  your  present  and  eternal  welfare, 
which  occupies  my  thoughts,  my  prayers,  my  labors.  And 
may  He  that  "holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  his  right  hand,"  who 
"walketh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks,"  be 
with  us  in  all  our  undertakings,  to  bless  and  prosper  us  in 
"building  up  the  old  waste  places;  in  raising  up  the  foundations 
of  many  generations;  that  we  may  indeed  be  called  the  re- 
pairer of  the  breach,  the  restorer  of  paths  to  dwell  in." 
Now  unto  Him,  &c. 


A  SERMON  ON  THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY, 

DELIVERED    IN 

ST.  PETER'S  CHURCH,  WASHINGTON, 

Sunday,  April  24,  1825, 

at  the  ordination  of  the 

REV.  JOSEPH  PIERSON  AS  PRIEST,  AND  OF  THE  REV.  C.  C. 
BRAINERD  AS  DEACON. 

John  xx.  21. 
"As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you." 

"The  baptism  of  John,  whence  was  it?  From  heaven,  or 
of  men?"  was  tlie  answer  made  by  our  blessed  Lord  to  the 
Jews,  who  inquired  into  the  authority  of  his  ministry.  And 
in  the  effect  it  produced  upon  them,  we  learn,  my  brethren 
and  hearers,  to  estimate  the  power  of  prejudice  upon  the 
human  mind,  by  seeing  it  able  to  resist  at  once  the  evidence 
of  sense  and  the  conviction  of  reason.  "We  learn,  also,  from 
this  example,  that  the  excuses  we  are  apt  to  make  for  error, 
from  the  influence  of  established  habits  of  thought  and  action, 
are  not  always — perhaps  we  may  safely  say,  are  rarely — of 
that  justifiable  character  we  would  willingly  persuade  our- 
selves; there  being  something  in  the  very  sound  of  truth, 
especially  divine  truth,  to  alarm  the  prejudice  that  is  opposed 
to  it — to  set  it  instantly  at  work  to  provide  a  defence,  and, 
by  this  very  effort,  (would  we  permit  it  thus  to  re-act,)  to  con- 
vince us  of  the  fallacy  and  folly  of  such  a  sacrifice  to  pride. 
In  the  case  before  us,  we  have  a  pregnant  instance,  how 
readily  truth,  even  when  indirectly  proposed,  will  flash  upon 
its  object — how  equally  quick  its  bearing  will  be  seen,  and, 
when  there  is  no  other  escape,  how  prejudice  will  resist  it, 
even  at  the  extra  expense  of  a  falsehood.  Hence  we  learn, 
my  friends,  of  what  great  importance  a  fair  mind  is  to  the 
attainment  of  truth  generally;  and,  also,  how  this  qualification 
is  enhanced  by  the  unspeakable  value  cf  religious  truth.  But 
in  this,  alas!  it  is,  that  our  prejudices  are  both  most  numerous 
and  most  powerful. 

[Vol.  1,— *8.] 


114  A  SEEMON   ON   THE   CHKISTIAN   MINISTRY, 

Yet  is  there  no  necessity  that  it  should  be  so,  my  hearers. 
Prejudice,  in  a  great  degree  at  least,  is  voluntary,  and,  after 
all  the  allowances  which  can  be  asked  for  the  influence  of 
education,  and  other  circumstances  of  a  like  nature,  there  is 
provision  made  to  counteract  its  sway  over  the  mind,  did  we 
faithfully  and  humbly  seek  the  truth  in  its  great  Author,  and 
not  in  the  systems  and  inventions  of  men.  In  our  religious 
concerns  especially — the  care  of  our  souls, — is  this  a  para- 
mount duty;  and,  as  we  are  fully  provided  for  it,  by  the  wis- 
dom and  goodness  of  Almighty  God,  and  furnished  with  the 
law  of  faith  and  life  in  his  holy  word,  there  can  be  no  excuse, 
either  for  the  neglect  or  perversion  of  the  Scriptures,  which, 
as  men,  we  can  apply  with  confidence,  either  to  ourselves  or 
others.  What  may  be  in  reserve  for  such  cases,  in  the  equity 
and  mercy  of  our  omniscient  Judge,  as  he  has  not  seen  fit  to 
reveal,  so  we  can  say  nothing,  unless  to  warn  against  specu- 
lations into  the  secret  things  of  God^  or  against  remaining 
satisfied  with  a  dej^endeuce  which  rests  for  its  foundation, 
rather  on  our  own  vain  reasonings,  than  on  the  declared 
counsel  of  his  revealed  will. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  evidence  the  power  of  prejudice  over 
the  mind,  that  I  have  noticed  this  awakening  answer  of  our 
LoKD  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders  of  the  Jews.  By  trans- 
posing the  question  contained  in  the  answer,  and  applying  it 
to  the  gosj)el,  we  obtain  the  governing  principle  which  per- 
vades every  advance  in  religion,  and  is  alone  competent  to 
arrest  the  power  of  prejudice,  and  give  solid  comfort  to  the 
soul,  in  the  awful  intei*ests  of  eternity. 

The  gospel  of  Cheist,  whence  is  it?  From  heaven,  or  of 
men?  Now,  while  there  will  be  but  one  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion, from  this  assembly  of  Christian  people,  to  many,  it  is^ 
to  be  feared,  were  it  pressed  home,  it  would  be  equally  em- 
barrassing as  the  original  question  to  the  Jews.  If  we  shall 
say,  from  heaven, — may  be  the  musing  of  some  minds  present, 
— we  are  met  by  the  unanswerable  inquiry.  Why,  then,  dO' 
you  not  believe  and  profess  it?  But,  if  we  shall  say,  it  is  of 
men,  a  mere  human  production,  we  rank  at  once  with  in- 
fidels. And  why  not,  my  hearers?  Where  else  can  you,  or 
would  you,  rank,  seeing  there  is  no  middle  ground  on  which 
you  can  take  your  stand?    In  the  sight  of  God,  and  in  the- 


A   SEKMON   ON   THE   CHKISTIAX   MINISTKT.  115 

judgment  of  right  reason,  there  is  no  medium  between  re- 
ceiving unqualifiedly,  and  rejecting-  absolutely,  his  public 
message  to  the  world,  by  his  only  begotten  Son.  No  man 
can  be,  at  the  same  time,  both  a  believer  and  an  unbeliever. 
"He  that  believeth  not,  is  condemned  already. — He  that  is 
not  for  me,  is  against  me."  This  is  an  awakening  thought, 
and  I  ]->ray  God  it  may  be  sanctified  to  those  whose  con- 
dition it  meets. 

But  it  is  not  only  to  the  gospel  as  a  whole,  that  this  inquiry 
is  applicable.  Every  particular  doctrine,  every  prescribed 
ordinance,  every  point  of  instituted  order,  with  every  per- 
sonal duty  as  Ghristians — all  rest,  for  their  sacredness  to  us, 
on  the  governing  j^rinciple.  Is  it  from  heaven,  or  of  men? 
!No  conceivable  fitness,  or  reasonableness,  or  expediency,  or 
accommodation  to  external  circumstances,  can  be  allowed  to 
supersede  the  fixed,  unchangeable  nature  of  what  God  hath 
appointed.  And  the  reason  is  obvious:  as  it  proceeded  from 
God,  no  human  power  or  wisdom  can  intermeddle  without 
impiety.  As  faith  can  rest  only  on  the  authority  of  God,  and 
that  authority  capable  of  being  verified;  as  faith  constitutes 
the  essence  of  every  religious  act;  the  foundation  on  which 
it  is  built  must  be  fixed  and  unchangeable  as  God  himself. 

These  positions,  which,  it  appears  to  me,  my  brethren  and 
hearers,  cannot  be  controverted  with  any  show  of  reason  or 
Scripture  authority,  prejjare  the  way  for  that  improvement 
of  the  words  of  my  text,  which  I  propose  to  make  of  them; 
and,  as  they  directly  refer  to  the  Ministerial  Commission 
under  the  gospel,  furnish  a  subject  of  general  as  well  as  par- 
ticular edification,  not  so  frequently  presented  to  the  con- 
sideration of  professing  Christians,  as,  from  its  great  im23or- 
tance,  it  deserves  to  be;  and  on  which  there  is  as  much 
erroneous  and  unsettled  opinion  as  upon  any  other  doctrines 
of  the  Christian  revelation.  And  my  apology,  if  apology 
can  be  needed,  is  to  be  sought  and  found  in  this  fact,  and  in 
the  particular  duty  now  before  me. 

And  here,  my  friends,  I  must  take  leave  to  enter  my  pub- 
lic protest,  in  behalf  of  the  Church,  against  the  unjust  and 
ungenerous  denial  to  us  of  what  is  so  fully  conceded  to  other 
denominations,  and  very  freely  exercised — the  privilege  of 
presenting,  and  pressing  upon  their  members,  the  distinctive 


116  A   SEEMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTKY. 

tenets  of  their  several  creeds.  In  this  respect,  we  claim  to 
stand  upon  that  ground  which  is  equally  the  privilege  of  all 
in  this  free  and  happy  land;  nor  do  we  wish  to  stand  upon 
any  other  or  higher  ground  than  is  due  to  the  soundness  of 
our  doctrine  and  principles;  to  their  agreement  with  Scriptu- 
ral truth  and  order;  and  to  their  tendency  to  promote  and 
ensure  the  three  great  blessings  of  civil  liberty,  social  hap- 
piness, and  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  If  any  represent  us 
otherwise,  we  only  say,  that  we  sincerely  pity  their  ignorance 
or  malevolence,  and  heartily  beg  of  God  to  give  them  re- 
pentance, and  better  minds. 

I  now  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  words  of  my  text, 
"As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you." 

That  these  words  refer  to  the  ministerial  commission,  is 
clear,  from  the  context,  and  from  the  parallel  passages  of 
Scripture.  According  to  the  testimony  of  St.  John,  they 
were  uttered  by  our  Lord  after  his  resurrection,  and  on  the 
evening  of  that  day,  at  his  first  appearance  to  the  eleven. 
And  what  farther  took  place  at  that  time,  puts  beyond  dis- 
pute our  Lord's  intention:  "And  when  he  had  said  this,  [the 
words  of  my  text,]  he  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Heceive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they 
are  remitted  unto  them;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they 
are  retained." 

This  application  of  the  words  of  the  text  is  further  con- 
firmed by  the  parallel  passages  in  the  other  gospels.  In  St. 
Luke's  gospel  the  same  commission  is  conferred  in  these 
"words:  "And  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father 
hath  appointed  unto  me."  In  St.  Matthew's  gospel,  the 
ground  of  the  authority  to  send,  or  appoint,  and  the  com- 
mission itself,  are  thus  expressed:  "And  Jesus  came  and 
spake  unto  them,  saying,  All  power  is  given  unto  me,  in 
heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things, 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  And  according  to  St. 
Mark,  the  commission  is  the  same  as  in  St.  Matthew,  with  a 
slight  variation  of  the  phraseology:  "And  he  said  unto  them, 
Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.     He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved; 


'  nt  he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned." 


i 


A   SERMON   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   ISHNISTRT.  117 

In  addition  to  tlys,  it  may  be  helpful  to  state,  that  this 
commission  was  addressed  exclusively  to  the  eleven.  Neither 
the  hundred  and  twenty  disciples,  mentioned  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  who  followed  our  Lord 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  personal  ministry,  nor  the  five 
hundred  brethren,  who  saw  him  alive  after  his  passion,  as 
St.  Paul  assures  us,  are  included  in  it,  as  is  abundantly  evi- 
dent from  the  historical  part  of  the  New  Testament. 

To  form  a  just  estimate,  therefore,  of  this  very  important 
subject,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider. 

First,  The  nature  and  extent  of  our  Lord's  own  commis- 
sion, as  the  Messenger,  the  Apostle,  of  God  the  Father,  to  a 
sin-ruined,  but  redeemed  world. 

Secondly,  The  connexion,  or  parallel,  between  this  and 
the  commission  conferred  on  the  Apostles,  as  the  messengers 
of  Christ  to  the  same  world. 

Thirdly,  The  continuance  of  this  commission  in  the  world. 
Fourthly,  The  object  or  purpose  of  a  divinely  authorized 
ministry,  in  the  Church,  or  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

And  then  conclude  with  such  practical  inferences  from  the 
whole,  as  shall  be  suitable  to  the  solemn  duty  we  have  this 
day  to  perform. 

"As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you." 
I.  First,  to  consider  the  nature  and  extent  of  uur  Lord's 
own  commission,  as  the  Messenger,  the  Apostle,  of  God  the 
Father,  to  a  sin-ruined,  but  redeemed  world. 

To  avoid  confusion  of  mind,  and,  of  course,  error  of  judg- 
ment, by  blending  distinct  and  separate  things  in  one  view, 
it  is  necessary  to  confine  our  consideration  to  that  part  of  our 
Saviour's  ofiice  which  could  be  transferred. 

In  what  pertains  to  the  inherent  divinity  of  his  nature,  as 
he  received  no  commission,  so  there  was  none  to  be  con- 
tinued. In  his  merciful  undertaking  to  suffer  the  penalty  of 
sin,  by  tasting  "death  for  every  man,"  there  could  be  no 
transfer.  It  is  therefore  to  the  administration  of  that  kinsr- 
dom  which  the  Father  hath  appointed  unto  him,  as  the  Son 
of  Man,  that  we  are  to  direct  our  attention,  on  the  point  under 
consideration;  indeed,  to  bear  constantly  in  mind,  my  breth- 
ren, that,  as  it  was  by  the  assuming  of  the  human  nature  into 
union  with  the  divine,  by  the  Son  of  God,  that  the  purposes 


118  A   SERMON    ON   THE   CHEISTIAN   MINISTKT. 

of  Heaven's  mercy  to  man  Avere  to  be  accomplished — so  tlie 
wliole  economy  and  management  of  the  gospel  dispensation 
is  committed  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Cubist,  in  this  his  assumed 
character;  in  whicli,  for  an  appointed  period,  he  stands  in 
equal  relation  to  God  and  man,  and  thus  competent  to  meet 
the  claims  of  the  one,  and  the  necessities  of  the  other.  And 
were  this  duly  attended  to,  my  hearers,  there  would  be  less 
difficulty  in  detecting  the  vain  reasonings  of  those  who,  from 
the  mystery  of  his  incarnation,  and  the  necessary  reference 
to  both  natures,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  dispute  and 
deny  his  essential  divinity. 

To  obtain  this  kingdom,  however — this  intermediate  dis- 
2)ensation,  rendered  necessary  by  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the 
world, — conditions  were  to  be  performed.  The  oblation  of 
himself,  therefore,  to  the  justice  of  God,  b}''  our  Redeemer, 
was  to  precede  iiis  assumption  of  the  kingly  office,  and  was, 
in  fact,  the  price  paid  for  his  exaltation  to  that  kingdom,  "in 
which,"  says  St.  Paul,  "he  rules  as  a  son  in  his  own  house." 
Hence  he  is  said  to  have  "purchased  a  Church  with  his  own 
blood;"  to  liave  "bought  us"  (the  subjects  of  this  his  kingdom) 
"with  a  price."  It  was,  therefore,  subsequent  to  his  resur- 
rection, that  his  exaltation  as  the  Son  of  Man  commenced;  it 
was  then  that  he  received  the  kingdom  appointed  unto  him 
of  his  Father;  and  it  was  then  that  he  commenced  tlie  exer- 
cise of  his  authorit3^,  l)y  commissioning  his  apostles  for  its  es- 
tablishment and  government  in  the  world. 

In  this  view  of  the  subject,  my  brethren,  we  shall  find  the 
question  simplified,  freed  from  many  difficulties  which  other- 
wise attend  it,  consistent  with  all  that  is  said  in  Scripture 
concerning  it,  and  profitable  to  correct  some  prominent  errors 
which  prevail  on  the  sul)ject  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

Our  Lord's  own  commission,  tlien,  as  the  messenger  (the 
apostle)  of  God  the  Father,  of  a  sin-ruined,  but  redeemed 
world,  is  derivative  in  its  nature.  Hence  St  Paul,  discours- 
ing of  our  Lord's  priestly  office,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, speaks  in  this  wise:  "And  no  man  taketh  this  honor 
iinto  himself,  but  he  that  is  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron.  So, 
also,  Christ  glorified  not  himself  to  be  made  an  High  Priest; 
but  he  that  said  unto  him.  Thou  art  my  Son,  to-day  have  I 
begotten  thee.     As  he  saith  also  in  another  place,  Thou  art 


1 


A  SERMON   ON  THE   CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY.  11^ 

■3,  Priest  forever,  after  the  order  of  Melcliizedek."  And  again 
it  is  repeated,  with  the  same  reference  to  the  Old  Testament 
priesthood,  "For  the  ]aw  maketh  men  High  Priests,  which 
have  infirmity,  but  the  word  of  the  oath,  which  was  since  the 
law,  maketh  the  Son,  who  is  consecrated  forevermore."  That 
it  is  derivative  in  its  nature,  we  learn  further  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  its  being  limited  in  duration  of  time.  This  St. 
Paul  also  informs  us  of,  in  his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
"Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  Iiave  delivered  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father;  and  when  all  things  shall 
be  subdued  unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  be  subject  unto 
liim  that  did  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all 
in  all." 

The  extent  of  our  Lord's  commission  embraces  whatever  is 
needful  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  he  has  undertaken. 
Within  this  it  is  unlimited  and  omnipotent;  beyond  this  it 
does  not  reach. 

Thus,  we  read  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  that  "God 
hath  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand,  in  the  heavenly  places, 
tar  above  all  principality,  and  power,  and  might,  and  do- 
minion; and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this 
world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come,  and  hath  put  all  things 
under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the 
Church."  And  St.  Peter  tells  us,  that  "angels,  and  authorities) 
and  powers,  are  made  subject  unto  him."  And  St.  Paul  again^ 
in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  lays  down  the  same  doc- 
trine: "Wherefore,"  says  he,  that  is,  because  Christ  became 
obedient  to  the  death  of  the  cross,  "wherefore,  God  also  hath 
highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is  above 
ever}'^  name;  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should 
bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things 
under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess,  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 

These  Scriptures,  with  many  others  to  the  same  amount, 
which  might  be  produced  out  of  both  the  Testaments,  declare 
sufficiently,  though  in  general  terms,  the  extent  and  impor- 
tance of  that  ofiice  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sustains,  in 
the  economy  of  man's  redemption  and  salvation.  It  is  by  the 
particulars,  however,  that  we  shall  best  discern  its  practical 
use  to  ourselves.  And  these  consist  in  his  Prophetic,  Priestly, 
and  Regal  offices. 


120  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY. 

As  the  Prophet  or  Teacher  of  his  Church,  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  make  a  full  disclosure  of  the  will  of  God  to  the 
world.  And  this  he  has  done,  partly  by  his  own  preachings 
but  more  full}^  by  the  revelation  made  through  the  prophets 
and  apostles,  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  contain 
all  things  necessary  to  be  known,  believed,  and  done,  by 
men,  in  order  to  secure  their  eternal  salvation. 

As  the  great  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  "He  has  passed 
into  the  heavens,  there  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for 
us:"  to  present  the  prayers  and  praises  of  his  people,  whether 
public  or  private,  purified  from  their  imperfection  by  the 
merit  of  his  name,  and  rendered  acceptable  to  God  the  Father, 
by  the  prevailing  intercession  of  God  the  Son. 

In  his  regal  office,  he  exercises  all  power  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  with  reference  to  his  Church.  He  rules  it  by  his  laws, 
and  appoints  his  servants  to  their  several  stations;  he  defends 
it  by  his  power;  sustains  it  by  his  providence;  directs  it  by 
his  wisdom;  extends  it  by  his  word;  sanctifies  it  by  his  Spirit; 
and,  when  the  number  of  his  elect  shall  be  accomplished, 
will  judge  it  in  righteousness,  according  to  the  word  spoken 
unto  it  in  the  gospel,  and  reward  or  punish  everlastingly,  ac- 
cording as  every  man's  work  shall  be.  And  for  tiiis  great 
and  awful  purpose,  his  commission  extends  to  raising  the 
dead.  "Yerily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  hour  is  coming, 
and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  For,  as  the  Father  hath 
life  in  himself,  so  hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in 
himself,  and  hath  given  him  authority  to  execute  judgment 
also,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man.  Marvel  not  at  this,  for 
the  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves 
shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth;  they  that  have  don© 
good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done 
evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation." 

In  the  extent  of  its  operation,  our  Lord's  commission  in- 
cludes the  Church  triumphant,  as  well  as  the  Church  mili- 
tant— the  Church  in  heaven,  as  well  as  the  Church  on  earth. 
Being  the  same  body,  of  which  he  is  the  living  Head,  they 
are  both  under  his  jurisdiction;  and,  as  the  purpose  of  the 
Church  upon  earth  is  to  prepare  members  for  the  Church  in 
heaven,  to  this  end  all  its  laws,  and  orders,  and  worship,  and 


A   SERMON   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY.  121 

appointments,  are  directed.  All  have  a  close  connexion  with 
the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  his  pe^^ple,  and  are  cal- 
culated to  sustain  faith,  and  defeat  sin,  and  increase  holiness. 
And  tis  our  Lord's  undertakinu'  for  mankind  embraced  the 
whole  human  family,  so  does  his  commission  include  the 
boundary  of  this  world  in  this  operation.  "Ask  of  me,"  says 
the  Almighty,  through  his  prophet,  in  the  2d  Psalm.  "Ask 
of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  tlie  Heathen  for  thine  inherit- 
ance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession.' 

From  all  which  we  learn,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  appointment  of  God  the  Fa- 
ther, is,  to  his  Church,  the  source  of  all  wisdom,  in  the  know- 
ledge of  divine  things;  the  ground  of  all  hope,  in  the  inter- 
cession of  his  priestly  character;  and  the  root  or  foundation 
of  all  authority  for  administering  the  affairs  of  this  his  king- 
dom, by  virtue  of  the  supreme  dominion  of  his  regal  otfice. 
And  if  to  these  we  add,  my  brethren,  all  tiiat  he  is  to  us,  in 
the  full  splendor  of  his  mediatorial  character,  well  may  we 
exclaim,  "What  hath  God  wrought!"  and  learn  to  realize  the 
depth  and  importance  of  his  affectionate  admonition,  "with- 
out me  ye  can  do  nothing." 

II.  Secondly,  I  am  to  consider  the  connexion,  or  parallel, 
between  this  and  the  commission  conferred  on  the  apostles, 
as  the  messengers  of  Christ  Jesus  to  the  same  world  of 
sinners. 

And  here,  my  brethren,  the  more  we  examine  into  this 
subject,  according  to  the  limitation  ali'eady  laid  down,  the 
more  satisfied  we  shall  be  of  the  exactness  of  the  parallel, 
and  of  the  importance  of  a  right  view  of  it,  to  the  full  com- 
fort of  our  religious  condition,  as  redeemed  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  called  to  this  state  of  salvation  by  the  Gospel. 

First,  then,  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  derived  his  coujmis- 
sion  and  authority  immediately  fi'om  God  tiie  Father,  so  did 
the  apostles  derive  theii's  immediately  tVom  tiie  Lord  Jksus 
Christ:  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  ye  him,"  said  the 
voice  from  heaven.  "And  1  a])point  unto  you  a  kingdom, 
as  my  Father  hath  appointed  unto  me." 

Next,  as  the  man  Christ  Jesus  was  visibly  anointed  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  power  from  on  high,  j>reviuus  to 
commencing  his  ministerial  office,  so  were  his  apostles  bap- 


122  A   SEEMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTET. 

tized  with  the  Holt  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  from 
their  ascended  and  glorified  Master,  according  to  his  promise. 
"Ye  shall  he  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  not  many  days 
hence;"  and  according  to  St.  Peter's  argument  with  the  Jews, 
on  that  day,  "Tliis  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all 
are  witnesses;  therefore,  being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  ex- 
alted, and  having  received  of  the  Father  the  j)romise  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth  this,  which  ye  now  see  and 
hear." 

Thirdly,  as  the  Lokd  Jesus  Christ  evinced  the  divine  au- 
thority of  his  commission  by  the  miracles  which  he  wrought, 
in  like  manner  were  his  apostles  provided  with  this  testimo- 
ny to  their  commission,  as  the  Ambassadors  of  Christ. 

"If  I  bear  witness  of  myself,  my  witness  is  not  true,"  said 
our  Lord.  "Ye  sent  unto  John,  and  he  bare  witness  of  the 
truth;  but  I  have  greater  witness  than  that  of  John;  for  the 
works  which  the  Father  hath  given  me  to  finish,  the  same 
works  that  I  do,  bear  witness  of  me,  that  the  Father  hath 
sent  me. 

"Yerily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  believeth  on  me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do;  and  greater  works  than  these 
shall  he  do;  because  I  go  unto  ray  Father. — And  with  great 
power,  gave  the  apostles  witness  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  And  by  the  hands  of  the  apostles  were  many 
signs  and  wonders  wrought  among  the  people,  and  believers 
were  the  more  added  to  the  Lord." 

Fourthly,  as  the  commission  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Je- 
sus Christ,  (as  the  revealer  of  the  will  of  God,)  included  the 
race  he  came  to  redeem  and  save,  so,  also,  is  the  commission 
to  his  apostles  alike  comprehensive  in  the  extent  of  its  juris- 
diction. "As  by  the  oft'ence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all 
men  to  condemnation;  even  so,  b}'  the  righteousness  of  one, 
the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men,  unto  justification  of  life. — 
Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations. — Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

Fifthly,  as  our  Lord  is  ordained  and  commissioned  as  the 
Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  by  the  "God  and  Father  of  the 
spirits  of  all  flesh,"  so,  also,  lias  the  great  Head  of  the  Church 
clothed  his  ajwstles  with  a  similar  distinction.  "When  the 
Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels 


A   SEEMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTET.  123 

with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory;  and 
before  liim  shall  be  gathered  all  nations,  and  he  shall  sepa- 
rate them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep 
from  the  goats.  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Yerily  I  say 
unto  you,  that  ye  which  have  followed  me,  in  the  regenera- 
tion, when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory, 
ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel." 

From  the  connexion  and  parallel  thus  shown,  my  brethren, 
(and  doubtless  it  might  be  more  minutely  traced,)  what  can 
we  infer,  but  that  the  Christian  ministry  is  of  that  important 
and  influential  character  to  revealed  religion — so  connected 
with  its  divine  original,  and  so  bound  up  with  the  hope  of 
man,  in  the  administration  of  its  saving  ordinances — as  to 
claim,  from  every  rational  believer,  that  verification  which 
alone  can  give  to  any  agency  the  stamp  of  assurance.  And 
we  have  but  to  suppose  the  apostles  of  Christ,  at  the  first 
promulgation  of  Christianity,  unable  to  prove  their  divine 
commission  by  its  then  proper  testimony,  to  learn  how  im- 
possible it  would  have  been  for  the  gospel  to  have  prevailed 
against  established  superstition,  and  the  vices  thereby  gene- 
rated, and  even  consecrated,  among  the  heathen  nations  of 
the  world;  and  thence  to  derive  those  conclusive  arguments 
which  demonstrate  the  continual  necessity  of  a  like  verifiable 
authority  to  every  generation  of  men,  in  transacting  what 
God  requires  at  their  hands  in  order  to  their  becoming  and 
continuing  parties  to  this  great  salvation,  as  a  system  of  re- 
ciprocal covenants,  between  God  and  man. 

Indeed,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  it  is  only  as  a  scheme  of 
covenanted  mercy,  on  declared  conditions,  that  any  outward 
order  and  appointment,  any  Church  ministry  and  sacraments, 
are  requisite  to  religion.  Abstracted  from  this,  every  man 
might  be  his  own  administrator  in  religious  things,  and  all 
hope  and  assurance  be  vacated,  until  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day.  Disjoined  from  this,  also,  every  thing  like  union 
and  fellowship  in  the  Saviour's  religion  would  be  an  impos- 
sible requirement,  inasmuch  as  there  would  be  nothing  out- 
ward and  visible,  to  test  internal  agreement  in  faith  and 
charity;  and  man  would  be  left  to  travel  through  his  pilgrim- 
age here,  solitary,  unconnected,  unaided,  and  unencouraged, 


124:  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHEISTIAN   MINISTRY. 

towards  eternity.  It  is  a  cold  and  comfortless  thought,  ray 
hearers,  yet  it  is  inseparable  from  the  denial  of  a  verifiable 
divine  commission  to  the  Christian  ministry.  It  is  a  ciieer- 
less,  gloomy  condition,  my  brethren,  to  which  a  merciful  God 
has  not  consigned  us,  notwithstanding  such  numbers  adopt 
it;  to  which  the  Scriptures  of  our  faith  give  no  countenance, 
and  to  which  the  searching  question — "By  what  authority 
doest  thou  these  things?"  if  seriously  applied,  would  unmask 
the  disguises,  and  tear  away  the  sophistry,  wherewith  the 
right  and  the  efficiency  of  a  ministry  not  apostolically  de- 
rived, is  covered  up  and  defended. 

III.  Thirdly,  I  am  to  consider  the  continuation  of  this  com- 
mission in  the  world. 

That  it  was  to  accompany  the  gospel  in  its  progress,  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  dispensation,  may  be  shown  from  a  va- 
riety of  considerations,  but  chiefly  from  this:  That  to  every 
generation  of  men,  as  it  comes  forward  to  accountable  life, 
the  gospel  is  in  fact  a  revelation;  has  to  be  considered,  in  its 
evidences,  its  authority,  its  obligations,  its  benefits,  as  the 
personal  concern  of  each  individual;  has  to  be  met  or  reject- 
ed, in  its  faith,  its  duties,  its  grace,  its  ordinances,  as  the  pre- 
scribed conditions  of  salvation.  Nor  do  the  advantages  of 
early  initiation  into  its  hope,  or  nurture  and  admonition  in 
its  precepts,  at  all  alter  the  case,  except  as  these  are  advan- 
tages— additional  talents  increasing  responsibility  for  their 
improvement.  Christianity  is  for  ever  a  substantive  consid- 
eration, my  brethren,  and  religion  a  personal  attainment,  to 
all  who  are  called  by  the  gospel  to  the  knowledge  of  this 
grace.  It  does,  indeed,  derive  confirmation  from  the  accu- 
mulating testimony  of  centuries  and  numbers,  in  behalf  of 
its  truth  and  divine  original.  But  it  is,  nevertheless,  inde- 
pendent of  this  aid,  resting  on  its  own  evidences  for  the  wis- 
dom or  the  folly  of  receiving  or  rejecting  it.  For  it  was  just 
as  ti'ue  and  divine,  at  its  first  j)romulgation,  as  at  any  subse- 
quent time. 

Had,  then,  the  gospel  commission  been  confined  to  a  few 
persons,  a  few  generations  only  could  have  reaped  the  advan- 
tage of  their  ministry.  Unless,  therefore,  the  lives  of  such 
persons  were  miraculously  continued,  all  who  came  after 
them  must  be  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  authorized  religious 


A  SEEMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MNISTET.  125 

ministrations.  Hence,  if  there  is  any  connexion  between 
Christianity  and  its  anthor;  if  there  be  any  dependence,  for 
religious  benefit,  on  religious  instruction,  on  religious  ordi- 
nances duly  administered — in  short,  on  keeping  alive  in  the 
world  "the  knowledge  of  the  only  true  God,  and  of  Jesus 
Cheist  whom  he  hath  sent,"  it  can  only  be  done  (miracle  al- 
ways excepted)  by  a  continued  succession  in  the  ministry, 
from  the  one  original  root  of  all  authority  to  minister  in  the 
atfairs  of  Cueist's  kingdom. 

And  such,  in  fact,  is  the  method  infinite  wisdom  hath 
adopted.  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world,"  are  the  words  of  encouragement  and  perpetuity, 
which  our  Loed  addressed  to  the  apostles  for  their  personal 
comfort,  and  to  the  Church  for  its  lasting  assurance  that  "the 
gates  of  hell  should  not  prevail  against  it;"  and  no  other  or 
reasonable  interpretation  can  be  given  of  them,  than  as  ap- 
plicable to  their  successors  in  the  ministry.  The  apostles, 
individually,  soon  finished  their  laborious  and  painful,  but 
heaven-blessed  and  glorious  race.  They  had  this  treasure  in 
earthen  vessels,  materials  which  could  not  last.  But  before 
they  finished  their  course,  respectively,  they  committed  unto 
faithful  men,  by  divine  direction,  that  commission  and  au- 
thority for  the  rule  and  government  of  the  Church,  for  the 
guardianship  of  the  faith,  and  fulfilment  of  the  gospel  dis- 
pensation, which  they  received  from  Christ,  and  Christ  from 
the  Father.  In  which  transfer,  they  gave  instructions  for  the 
due  and  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  peculiar  to  their 
office;  with  directions  that  they  also  should,  in  like  manner, 
"commit  the  same  to  faithful  men,  who  should  be  able  to 
teach  others,"  and  thus  continue  the  line  of  apostolical  suc- 
cession, unbroken,  to  the  end. 

"Paul,  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Cheist,  by  the  commandment  of 
God  our  Saviour,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Cheist,  according  to 
the  gospel  of  the  ever  blessed  God,  which  was  committed  to 
my  trust,  whereunto  I  am  ordained  a  preacher,  and  an  apostle. 
This  charge  I  commit  unto  thee,  son  Timothy;  and  the  things 
that  thou  hast  heard  of  me  among  many  witnesses,  the  same 
commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be  able  to  teach 
others  also.  ' 

This  is  the  language  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy,  when  trans- 


126  A   SEEMON    ON   THE   CUEISTIAN   MINISTRY. 

ferring  to  liiin  tlie  authority  to  rule,  censure,  restrain,  and 
ordain  in  the  Church;  which  manifests  in  what  sense  he  under- 
stood the  continuance  of  the  apostolic  commission;  and,  in 
connexion  with  the  uniform,  undeniable  practice  of  the 
Church  of  Cueist  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  might  put  at  rest, 
forever,  all  dispute  upon  this  subject,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as 
a  point  to  be  tried  by  its  pro2)er  evidence. 

But,  independent  of  this,  from  the  words  of  my  text,  and 
the  parallel  passages  of  Scripture,  it  would  appear  that  a  con- 
trary conclusion  does  violence  to  the  only  possible  purpose 
and  design  in  the  appointment  of  a  visible  Church  with  an 
authorized  ministry.  These,  if  they  mean  and  effect  any 
thing  in  the  salvation  of  men,  must  be  considered  as  pro- 
visions in  aid  of  union  and  assurance  of  faith  among  Chris- 
tians. And  in  what  way  this  purpose  can  be  answered,  other 
than  by  a  fixed  and  unchangeable  standard  of  unity,  in  faith, 
doctrine,  and  worship,  referable  to  a  derived,  transmitted, 
and  thereby  verifiable,  authority,  to  act  as  "ambassadors  of 
Cheist,  and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,"  is  difficult  to 
conceive,  and  still  harder  to  make  appear.  "As  my  Father 
hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  I  appoint  unto  you  a 
kingdom,  as  my  Father  hath  a]3pointed  unto  me."  Hence 
it  is  clear, 

First,  That  whatever  the  authority  of  Cheist  in  the  gospel 
dispensation  was,  with  reference  to  the  Church,  of  the  same 
extent  was  that  of  his  apostles.  As  he  alone  could  purchase, 
so  they  only  could  plant  and  govern  his  Church.  All  others 
were  interdicted  from  any  interference. 

Secondly,  As  the  Church  and  ministry,  in  this  dispen- 
sation, were  intended  for  perpetuity,  "even  till  the  earth  be 
filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Loed;"  therefore,  this 
authority  must  also  continue,  and  run  parallel  with  it,  through 
all  generations.  As  Cheist's  commission  and  authority,  de- 
rived from  the  Father,  admitted  a  transfer  of  it  to  his  apos- 
tles, in  like  manner  the  commission  and  authority  of  the 
apostles,  derived  from  Cheist,  admitted,  and  in  fact  included, 
a  like  transmission  to  others,  and  equally  verifiable  with 
theirs.  Each  were  invested  with  powers  and  qualifications 
suited  to  the  exigences  of  the  Church — to  its  condition  at  the 
time;  and  as  there  were  many  things  in  which  the  apostles 


« 


A   SEKMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN    MIXISTET.  12'T 

■vrere  inferior  to  their  Master,  as  tlie^liead,  but  yet  truly  his 
successors  in  tkiugs  necessary  to  the  Church,  so  are  there 
many  things  in  which  the  subsequent  governors  of  the 
Church  were  inferior  to  the  apostles;  yet  were  they  truly,  and 
to  all  necessary  purposes,  their  successors.  And  this  may 
serve  as  an  answer  to  the  childish  cavil  so  much  relied  upon, 
that  the  apostles,  as  inspired  men,  endowed  with  miraculous 
power,  and  eye  witnesses  of  the  resurrection  and  ascended 
glory  of  Jesus  Christ,  could  have  no  successors.  In  thesQ 
things^  indeed,  they  could  have  no  successors;  neither  was 
the  continuance  of  such  qualifications  needed  by  the  Church. 
The  apostles  lived  to  establish  the  Church,  and  complete  the 
canon  of  Scripture,  as  the  standard  of  faith.  Their  extraor- 
dinary powers  were  given  for  this  end,  which  being  answered, 
they  were  withdrawn.  But  in  the  necessary  powers  and 
qualifications  for  its  government,  preservation  in  unity,  and 
extension  in  the  world;  as  these  were  continually  needed, 
essential  to  the  very  being  of  the  Church,  as  a  visible  society; 
so,  in  them  the  apostles  both  could  have,  and  did  have,  suc- 
cessors; which  have  continued  in  an  unbroken  line  of  trans- 
mitted authority  to  this  day,  through  the  order  of  Bishops,  as 
the  only  lawful  and  verifiable  source  of  spiritual  rule,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ. 

lY.  Fourthly,  I  am  to  consider  the  object,  or  purpose,  of 
a  divinely  constituted  ministry  in  the  Church,  or  kingdom, 
of  Christ. 

That  every  regular  society,  whether  civil  or  religious,  to  be 
either  permanent  or  profitable,  must  be  administered  by  its 
proper  officers,  duly  authorized,  is  too  obvious  to  require 
either  proof  or  illustration.  The  Church  of  Christ,  therefore, 
differs  in  no  respect  from  all  other  societies,  as  to  this  neces- 
sity. Order,  and  not  confusion,  is  the  signature  of  the  Al- 
mighty on  all  his  works,  and  equally  conspicuous  in  the  con- 
stitution of  his  holy  Church,  which  he  has  put  under  the 
regular  subordination  of  a  government  suited  to  the  objects 
of  such  an  institution. 

Neither  does  the  Church  differ  from  other  societies  in  the 
application  of  the  rule,  inseparable  from  every  regular 
government,  "no  man  taketh  this  honor  unto  himself;"  a  self 
constituted  or  irregularly  appointed  magistrate  being,  in 


128  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY. 

every  sense,  an  intruder,  whether  in  the  Church  or  in  the 
state.  The  Church  differs,  however,  in  the  source  from 
which  the  honor  or  authority  is  derived.  As  civil  societies 
derive  altogether  from  common  consent  of  the  parties  as- 
sociated; the  Church  on  the  contrary,  as  a  spiritual  society, 
derives  directly  from  its  divine  Head:  "My  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world,"  saith  the  Saviour. 

Another  design  of  a  divinely  constituted  ministry  in  the 
Church,  with  a  verifiable  authority,  is,  for  assurance  in  the 
administration  of  the  ordinances  of  religion.  Without  this. 
there  can  be  no  more  certainty  and  assurance,  no  more 
validity  and  effect,  in  the  sacraments  of  religion,  than  there 
can  be  in  civil  affairs,  from  transacting  the  requisitions  of 
government  with  self  appointed  officei's;  and  as,  in  the  latter 
case,  though  the  men  may  be  very  competent,  and  the  per- 
son transacting  perfectly  sincere  in  his  intentions,  yet,  for 
want  of  due  authority,  the  whole  is  a  nullity,  and  cannot  be 
recognized;  so,  in  the  former  case,  if  we  would  act  with  as- 
surance, we  must  act  according  to  the  rule  and  order  laid 
down  for  the  government  of  the  Church,  as  a  divinely  con- 
stituted society,  under  its  proper  officers.  And  did  men 
allow  this  plain  analogy  its  proper  weight,  there  would  be 
less  danger  of  being  seduced  into  the  pernicious  paths  of 
division  and  discord. 

It  is,  therefore,  for  the  benefit  of  third  persons,  for  those 
who  desire  the  aids  and  the  hopes  which  Christ's  religion  pre- 
sents to  mortals,  that  a  fixed  and  authorized  ministry  is  an 
integral  part  of  the  gospel.  As  it  is  a  communication  from 
heaven  to  man,  through  men  of  like  passions  with  others,  some 
mark  of  discrimination,  some  distinctive  character,  of  a  higher 
order  than  man  can  supply,  is  necessary  to  designate  those 
to  whom  is  committed  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  and 
dispensing  the  mysteries  of  God's  grace  in  the  sacraments  of 
the  gospel.  But  where  would  be  the  benefit,  had  we  no 
means  of  determining  the  true  from  the  surreptitious  author- 
ity? The  very  reason  of  the  thing,  therefore,  points  to  trans- 
mitted succession  from  the  apostles.  This  the  divine  wisdom 
has  seen  fit  to  provide  and  appoint,  and  this  we  are  bound  to 
follow,  if  we  would  have  our  religion  what  it  is  intended 
to  he,  to-wit,  a  reasonable  service,  and  a  source  of  comfort 


A    SERMON   ON   THE   CHEISTIAN   MINISTRY.  129 

and  assurance  during  our  journej  through  life,  and  of  re- 
vealed hope  for  eternity. 

The  apostles  of  our  Lord  gave  to  the  world  the  incontestible 
evidence  of  miraculous  power,  that  they  were  messengers  of 
heaven,  commissioned  servants  of  the  Saviour,  to  show  unto 
men  the  way  of  salvation.  And  though,  from  the  very  nature 
of  things,  this  mode  of  proof  could  not  continue,  inasmuch 
as  a  perpetual  miracle  would  cease  to  be  such,  from  constant 
recurrence;  yet  we  are  not  deprived  of  sufficiently  satisfactory 
evidence  on  this  leading  point  of  revealed  religion.  The  au- 
thority of  the  Church  planted  and  ordered  by  these  very 
apostles,  regularly  transmitted  from  them,  and  attested  by 
the  public  ordination  of  her  ministry,  being  the  true  and  only 
substitute  for  miraculous  attestation  to  ministerial  commis- 
sion. Since  the  cessation  of  miraculous  gifts  in  the  Church, 
no  man  can  prove  a  jpriori  that  he  is  called  of  God — moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  him  this  ministry.  But  an 
a  priori  proof  of  this  as  a  fact,  must  precede  the  very  first 
ministerial  act,  if  we  would  avoid  uncertainty  and  confusion. 
Therefore,  the  authority  of  the  Church,  regularly  deduced 
from  the  apostles  who  founded  it,  as  it  is  the  only  verifiable, 
so  it  is  the  only  valid  proof  of  ministerial  commission. 

The  sum  is  this:  The  Christian  ministry  is  either  at  large, 
that  is,  the  right  and  privilege  of  every  private  Christian,  to 
assume  at  his  pleasure;  or  it  is  limited,  that  is,  confined  to  a 
particular  order  of  men,  acting  under  apostolical  authority. 

But,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  Christ  limited  his  author- 
ity to  preach  and  baptize — to  found  and  govern  his  Church 
— to  the  apostlefe.  Therefore,  if  there  is  a  Christian  ministry 
upiin  this  earth,  if  the  promise,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  has  not  failed,  that  ministry 
must  be  sought  in  apostolical  succession.  From  this  position 
there  is  no  escape,  but  a  determined  adherence  to  the  oppo- 
site notion,  in  defiance  of  Scripture  and  reason. 

"Where,  and  with  whom  it  is.  to  be  found,  is  the  deep  and 
previous  question,  which  every  man,  as  serious  for  his  soul 
as  for  his  estate,  has  to  settle  at  his  entrance  on  a  religious 
course  of  life.  One  thing,  however,  is  beyond  dispute:  no 
apostle  has  appeared  in  the  interval  which  has  elapsed  since 
those  first  appointed  finished  their  course.  No  subsequent 
[Vol.  1,— *9.] 


130  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CURISTIAN   MINISTEY. 

origination  of  names  and  orders  in  the  Christian  community^ 
tlierefove,  can  claim  the  sanction  of  aj^ostolic  origin. 

Y.  I  come  now  to  conclude,  with  such  practical  inferences 
from  the  wliole,  as  are  naturally  suggested  by  the  solemn 
duty  we  have  this  day  to  perform. 

And  first:  If  the  view  I  have  taken  of  this  subject  be  at  all 
founded  on  Scripture  and  reason,  it  is  not  of  that  unimpor- 
tant, indifl'erent  nature,  which  some  endeavor  to  represent  it, 
but  so  intimately  connected  with  the  certahity  or  uncertainty^ 
the  safety  or  insecurity  of  our  eternal  condition,  according  to 
the  public  stipulation  of  the  gospel,  as  to  give  that  color  to 
our  religious  condition  in  this  world  which  is  entitled  to  as- 
surance, or  divested  of  revealed  hope. 

Secondly,  if  the  order  of  the  gospel  is  as  much  a  part  of 
God's  revealed  will  as  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  it  is  equally 
entitled  to  otr  reverence  and  observance;  and  no  reasonings 
should  be  listened  to,  which  go,  in  any  way,  to  separate  what 
God  in  his  wisdom  hath  seen  fit  to  connect  together,  for  the 
comfort  and  edification  of  his  creatui*es.  It  is  ever  at  our 
personal  peril,  my  friends,  if  we  venture  to  stretch  our  mea- 
sure beyond  its  projDcr  limit,  and  create  a  standard  for  the 
gospel,  instead  of  making  the  gospel  the  safe  standard  to  our 
thoughts  and  actions. 

Thirdly,  if  the  means  of  determining  the  lawfulness  of  the 
authority  by  which  our  sj^iritual  guides  act,  be  thus  furnished 
to  all,  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  there  can  be  no  excuse 
for  negligence  or  remissness  on  such  a  commanding  interest; 
for  the  very  first  religious  ordinance,  by  which  we  obtain  a 
title  to  the  covenanted  mercies  of  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Cheist  Jesus  for  ourselves  and  om*  children,  prompts  the  in- 
quiry, as  to  the  administrator,  "By  what  authority  doest  thou 
these  things?."  And,  while  no  worldly-wise  man  will  pur- 
chase, for  himself  or  his  children,  an  earthly  inheritance, 
without  careful  scrutiny  into  his  right  and  title  who  conveys 
it  to  him;  no  serious  Christian  can  be  justified,  even  in  the 
eye  of  reasom  who  accepts  a  title  to  a  heavenly  inheritance, 
either  for  himself  or  his  children,  without  an  equally  careful 
examination  of  his  right  to  convey  who  proflers  to  transfer  it. 

Thus,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  do  we  find  the  maxims  and 
the  prudence  of  common  life  our  schoolmasters,  to  teach  us 


A  SERMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY.  131 

our  duty  in  this  infinite  interest,  of  our  claim  to,  and  rightful 
Scriptural  expectation  of  God's  revealed  mercies  in  Christ 
Jesfs.  And,  in  laying  them  before  you  on  this  occasion,  I 
fulfil  an  imperious  duty,  for  which  I  feel  and  know  that  I 
am  responsible  to  God;  but  on  which  there  is  a  guarded  si- 
lence preserved  by  those  whose  very  existence  depends  on 
keeping  this  inquiry  from  general  attention,  and  who  stig- 
matize every  attempt  to  give  information,  as  an  uncharitable 
effort  to  disturb  tlie  peace  and  harmony  of  the  professing 
world. 

But,  my  brethren,  such  railing  accusations  have  no  weight 
with  me.  The  truth — "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus," — is  all  I 
live  for;  is  what,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  would  die  for;  and 
nothing  else,  how  specious  soever  in  its  structure,  will  avail 
either  you  or  me,  in  the  great  day  of  eternity.  I  am  not 
calling  your  attention  to  the  title  to  your  estates,  but  to  that 
title  on  which  your  souls  rest  for  their  hope  of  a  heavenly  in- 
heritance. And  could  I  but  rouse  you  to  feel  the  same  inter- 
est for  the  one,  which  you  manifest  for  the  other,  God  would 
be  glorified  in  the  triumphs  of  divine  truth,  and  an  evange- 
lized world  resound  his  praise,  who,  "when  he  ascended  up 
on  high,  led  cajDtivnty  captive,  and  gave  gifts  unto  men;  and 
he  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evan- 
gelists, and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  perfecting  of 
the  saints,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ,  till  we  all 
come,  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  sta- 
ture of  the  fullness  of  Christ." 

To  you,  my  brethren,  whose  purpose  it  is,  by  the  good  mo- 
tions of  the  Holt  Ghost,  to  devote  yourselves  to  this  minis- 
try, and,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  this  congregation,  to 
pledge  yourselves  this  day,  to  the  advancement  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom,  I  now  turn,  and,  from  the  consideration 
of  the  high  authority  under  which  you  will  be  commissioned 
to  act,  would  call  your  attention  to  the  proportionally  high 
and  solemn  obligations  under  which  you  are  about  to  come. 

"Separated  to  the  gospel  of  God,"  henceforth  all  profane 
and  secular  occupations,  beyond  those  indispensable  to  the 
common  duties  of  life,  in  every  calling,  are  put  beneath  your 
notice. 


133  A   SERMON   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   MINISTRY. 

Your  ambition  must  now  be  directed  to  tlie  attainment  of 
"the  honor  that  cometh  of  God."  Your  labor  and  diligence 
must  henceforth  be  applied  to  approve  yourselves  faithful  to 
him  who  hath  called  you  into  the  spiritual  vineyard.  Your 
riches  must  now  consist  in  accountable  souls  won  over  from 
darkness  and  death  of  sin,  to  glory,  honor,  and  immortality, 
by  the  power  and  grace  of  Christ,  through  the  word  preached 
unto  them. 

All  conformity  to  the  world  is  henceforth  peculiarly  inter- 
dicted to  you.  To  the  Ministers  of  Christ,  and  Messengers 
of  salvation  to  a  sin-ruined  world,  its  vain  and  vicious  plea- 
sures, its  ensnaring  temptations  and  unhallowed  pursuits, 
•must  be  guarded  against,  with  that  care  and  watchfulness, 
which  the  deepest  conviction  of  their  danger  and  fallacy  alone 
can  supply.  "Ye  are  not  of  the  world,"  said  our  Lord,  to 
his  first  disciples;  and  it  is  yet  true,  in  the  just  application  of 
the  words  to  all  who  are  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take 
upon  them  this  office  and  ministration.  Let  your  deport- 
ment, then,  show,  that  you  can  so  use  the  world  as  not  abus- 
ing it;  that  your  treasure  is  elsewhere  laid  up,  and  your  af- 
fections settled  on  another  and  a  better  country,  even  an 
heavenly. 

Ambassadors  of  Christ!  A  station  more  dignified  and  ex- 
alted, more  influential  and  extensive,  than  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  can  match;  but  withal,  my  brothers,  more  highly 
responsible,  by  all  the  difference  between  time  and  eternity. 
As  envoys  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation is  committed  to  you.  You  have  to  negotiate  terms 
of  peace  between  earthly  rebels  and  their  heavenly  Sove- 
reign; between  dying  sinners  and  their  living  Saviour;  and 
diligence  and  faithfulness  alone  can  offer  you  the  hope  of 
success,  and  enable  you  to  deliver  your  own  souls. 

In  this  labor  of  love,  bear  ever  in  mind,  my  brothers,  the 
instructions  for  your  embassy,  contained  in  the  word  of  God; 
and,  within  that  gracious  limit,  draw  out  every  affection  of 
nature  and  grace,  to  win  immortal  souls  to  eternal  life.  Con- 
template your  merciful  Master,  loving  them,  even  unto  the 
death  of  the  cross,  and  cultivate  the  mind  that  was  in  him. 
Use  the  "terrors  of  the  Lord  to  persuade  men;"  the  promises 
of  God,  to  engage  them;  the  love  of  Christ  to  constrain  them; 


A   SERMON"   ON   TIIE   CHEISTIAN"   MINISTRY.  133 

and  the  example  of  your  own  lives  to  encourage  them  to  lay 
down  the  weapons  of  a  mad  rebellion,  and  embrace  the  mercy 
that  spares  and  saves.  Assure  them,  with  all  the  earnestness 
of  personal  experience,  that  none  were  ever  rejected  who 
sincerely  and  penitently  sought  unto  God,  through  his  only 
begotten  Son;  and  that,  through  faith  in  his  blood,  pardon, 
grace,  and  everlasting  life,  are  the  rich  exchange  you  are 
authorized  to  offer  them  for  guilt,  and  sin,  and  eternal  death, 
the  only  fruit  of  their  rebellion,  if  persisted  in.  Address  their 
hopes,  their  fears,  tiieir  reason,  tlieir  self-love,  if  by  any  means 
you  may  save  some,  making  full  proof  of  your  ministry. 

Stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God!  Intrusted  with  the  rich 
deposit  of  his  gn.ce,  in  the  word  and  sacraments  of  the  gos- 
pel! That  grace,  witliout  which  fallen  creatures  can  do  no- 
thing in  the  great  work  of  spiritual  renewal,  and  in  working 
out  their  evei'lasting  salvation.  That  grace,  which  is  the 
purchase  of  Christ's  death,  the  root  of  all  holy  desires,  all 
good  counsels,  and  all  just  works,  in  redeemed  man,  which 
is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal,  and  shines  bright  and 
cheering  in  those  very  offers  of  mercy  you  are  commissioned 
to  bear  forth  among  your  fellow  sinners.  This  you  have  to 
deal  out  in  measure  and  season  to  the  household  of  faith, 
watching  that  all  be  duly  supplied  according  to  their  several 
wants,  and  that  none  be  deprived,  by  your  negligence,  of 
that  spiritual  nourishment  which  is  the  food  of  the  soul.  Re- 
member then,  my  brothers,  that  it  is  "required  of  stewards, 
that  a  man  be  found  faithful;"  and  keep  full  before  you  '"the 
prize  of  your  high  calling,"  that,  giving  yourselves  wholh'-  to 
this  work,  your  crown  may  be  bright  witli  jewels,  in  the  day 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  To  whose  holy  keeping  and  all-sufficient 
grace,  I  commit  and  commend  you;  and  to  wdjose  holy  name, 
with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  one  only  and  ever- 
living  God,  be  glory  and  praise  from  redeemed  man,  world 
without  end.     Amen. 


REVELATION  THE  FjOUNDATION  OF  FAITH; 

A   SERMON, 

PEEACHED    IX 

ST.  LUKE'S  CHURCH,  SALISBURY,  NORTH  CAROLINA, 

AT    THE    ORDINATION    OF 

THE    REV.    PHILIP    B.   WILEY, 

Sunday,  May  24,  1829. 

Romans  x.  14,  and  part  of  15, 

"How,  then,  shall  they  call  on  him,  in  whom  they  hare  not  believed?  and 
liow  shall  they  believe  in  him,  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?  and  how  shall 
they  hear,  without  a  Preacher?  and  how  shall  they  preach,  except  they  be 
sent?" 

In  this  series  of  questions,  it  appears  to  be  the  apostle's 
■object  to  show,  that  revelation  is  the  only  foundation  on  which 
religion  can  be  either  required  of,  or  practised  by,  fallen 
creatures;  and  as  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  inter- 
ests of  our  souls,  my  hearers,  that  men  should  be  fully  con- 
vinced of  this  primary  truth,  I  shall  endeavor  to  explain  an^ 
confirm  it,  by  showing, 

First,  that  discoveries  are  made  in  the  gospel  of  Cheist, 
which  were  otherwise  impossible  to  men. 

Secondly,  that  these  discoveries  are  adapted  to  a  state  or 
condition  of  the  world,  from  which  it  was  desirable  to  be  de- 
livered. 

Thirdly,  that  the  preaching  of  the  word  is  the  regular  ap- 
pointed  means  for  making  known  to  the  world  the  methods 
of  God's  grace,  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. — "How,  then, 
shall  they  call  on  him,  in  whom  they  have  not  believed?  and 
how  shall  tbey  believe  in  him,  of  whom  they  have  not  heard? 
and  how  shall  they  hear,  without  a  preacher?" 

Fourthly,  that  as  the  discoveries  of  the  gospel  are  of  di- 
vine revelation,  so  are  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  gospel,  by  a  divine-  commission — "And 
how  shall  they  preach,  except  they  be  sent?" 


136       EEVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH. 

I.  First,  I  am  to  sbov/  that  discoveries  are  made  in  the  gos- 
pel of  CiiKisT,  which  were  otherwise  impossible  to  men. 

To  those  who  are  acquainted  with  that  gospel,  this  propo- 
sition would  seem  to  require  no  proof.  But  on  a  little  more 
consideration,  we  shall  lind  that  the  actual  condition  of  the 
religious  world  renders  it  both  necessary  and  proper,  to  vin- 
dicate the  claims  of  revealed  religion,  against  religion  in  the 
general  or  abstract  notion  of  the  unbelieving  indifference  of 
too  many,  in  this  latter-day  state  of  the  gospel.  It  is  a  part 
of  our  weakness,  my  brethren,  against  which  we  should  be 
steadily  on  our  guard,  that  admitted  truths,  however  high 
their  importance,  lose  by  length  of  time,  that  relish  and 
impression,  which  the  freshness  of  discovery  imparts  to  them. 
Hence,  though  the  acknowledgment  is  general,  in  all  Chris- 
tian lands,  of  those  truths,  which  by  revelation  are  made  our 
own — and  though  the  awful  consequences  which  depend  upon 
them,  are  just  the  same  now,  as  at  the  beginning — yet  it  is 
past  all  conti'adiction  true,  that  they  are  not  listened  to  with 
that  reverence  and  attention — they  do  not  occupy  and  fill  the 
minds  of  men  with  that  deep  and  serious  interest,  which  so 
tremendous  an  alternative,  as  salvation  or  damnation,  must 
present  to  every  reflecting  mind.  Having  been  so  long  in 
possession,  we  are  apt  to  overlook  the  source  from  whence 
we  derive  them — to  consider  them  as  antiquated,  and  far 
aistant,  in  their  application;  when,  nevertheless,  in  their  vi- 
tal influence  upon  the  heart,  they  are  to  this  day,  and  will 
be  to  the  end  of  days,  as  new  and  as  fresh  as  when  first  pro- 
mulgated. 

To  this  cause  it  is  owing,  that  experimental  religion  is  so 
little  sought  after — that  so  many  are  satisfied  with  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth,  and  are  careless  about  the  effect — that 
numbers  rest  contented  with  the  form,  while  they  ai-e  stran- 
gers to  the  power  of  godliness;  forgetting  that  "the  letter  kill- 
■eth" — that  mere  acquaintance  with  religious  truth  possesses 
no  saving  power,  being  equally  in  reach  of  the  worst  and  of 
the  best  of  men;  and  not  bearing  in  mind,  that  "the  Spirit 
giveth  life,"  in  the  saving  application  of  truth  to  the  heart, 
and  from  thence  to  the  conversation,  of  every  believer. 

To  this  cause,  also,  I  am  disposed  to  refer  that  trait  in  the 
free-thinking  philosophy  of  the  present  day,  which  Ijoldly 


EEVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH.       1S7 

assumes  as  its  own  the  deep  things  of  God,  deals  with  them 
as  with  mere  natural  verities,  and  putting  iu  the  back  ground 
the  only  source  of  truth  and  wisdom,  presumptuously  specu- 
lates on  the  condition  of  man,  and  on  the  purposes  of  God 
respecting  him,  as  if  the  counsels  of  him  who  is  perfect  in 
knowledge  were  within  the  grasp  of  a  finite  and  fallen  crea- 
ture. Hence  much  of  that  indifference,  not  to  say  deadness, 
to  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  which  marks  men  of  literary 
pretensions  in  the  present,  as  well  as  in  primitive  times.  Full 
of  the  "wisdom  of  the  world,"  but  empty  of  that  "wisdom 
which  Cometh  down  from  above,"  they  overlook  the  never 
to  be  shaken  truth,  that,  but  for  the  pag5  of  revelation,  the 
boasted  powers  of  human  reason  could  never  have  advanced 
a  single  step  in  tlie  science  of  salvation.  "The  world  by  wis- 
dom knew  not  God."  To  this,  also,  I  doubt  not,  it  is  owing, 
that  "not  many  wise,  not  many  noble,  are  now  called — be- 
cause that,  though  they  profess  to  know  God,  they  glorify 
him  not  as  God,  neither  are  thankful,  but  become  vain  in 
their  imaginations,  and  their  foolish  heart  is  darkened,"  so 
that  God  permits  strong  delusion  to  lay  hold  of  them — even 
to  believing  the  impossible  lie,  that  they  can  be  their  own 
Saviours.  And  were  this  evil  confined  to  this  description  of 
persons,  thougli  deeply  to  be  deplored,  it  might  be  submitted 
to;  but  unhappily  the  example  is  spreading  among  the  rising 
hope  of  future  days — in  the  young  men  of  this  genei'ation, 
who  are  caught  by  the  glitter  of  false  learning,  and  seduced 
by  the  "great  swelling  words  of  vanity,"  according  to  the 
description  of  the  apostle,  "wherewith  they  promise  them 
liberty"  from  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  trammels  of 
superstition,  and  whei'eby  they  are  seduced  to  doubt,  and  to 
deny,  the  truth  "which  is  according  to  godliness." 

But  were  the  revelation  of  the  gospel  fairly  considered — 
what  it  is  that  it  brings  to  our  knowledge,  with  what  it  pro- 
poses to  our  attainment — it  could  not  ftiil,  I  think,  to  interest 
and  engage,  even  the  commanding  and  commendable  ac- 
quirements of  literature,  unreservedly  in  its  behalf.  For  it 
meets  us,  with  its  soul  cheering  discoveries,  exactly  where 
the  powers  of  human  reason  come  to  a  full  stop.  When  ob- 
servation and  experience  introduce  us  fully  to  that  confusion 
and  disorder  which  pervade  equally  the  natural  and  the 


138  REVELATION   THE   FOUNDATION    OF   FAITH. 

moral  world,  they  can  go  no  farther;  and  just  at  this  point, 
the  discoveries  of  revelation  step  in  to  save  us  from  the 
gloomy  conclusions  of  fate  and  necessity — of  chance-creation, 
and  Atheism. 

One  single  example  out  of  many  may  serve,  my  hearers, 
to  confirm  this  remark.  How  are  we  to  account  for  the  ori- 
g\n  and  existence  of  evil,  either  natural  or  moral,  in  the  cre- 
ation of  a  perfectly  good,  wise,  and  omnipotent  Being?  Can 
reason  and  philosophy  account  for  this?  Alas,  it  is  power- 
less. We  may  conjecture  and  speculate,  and  build  up  theo- 
'ry  upon  theory,  till  we  lose  ourselves  in  thought,  but  still  we 
have  only  the  miserable  certainty,  that  evil  is  present  with 
us.  To  revelation  alone,  therefore,  are  we  indebted  for  this 
discovery. 

But  admitting  for  the  moment,  that  it  is  possible  to  be  sa- 
tisfied on  this  point,  without  the  aid  of  revelation — let  me 
ask,  what  are  we  the  better  for  it?  Can  this  knowledge, 
however  attained,  furnish  a  remedy  for,  or  arrest,  the  mortal 
malady  under  whicli  the  world  labors?  No,  not  at  all.  "Man 
knoweth  not  the  price  thereof,  neither  is  it  found  in  the  land 
of  the  living — the  depth  saith  it  is  not  in  me,  and  the  sea 
saith  it  is  not  with  me.  But  God  understandeth  the  way 
thereof,"  and  hath  showed  unto  us  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son, 
"the  place  where  wisdom  may  be  found" — that  wisdom,  com- 
pared with  which,  all  the  wisdom  of  the  world  is  foolishness: 
— that  truth,  in  the  light  of  which  the  wisest  systems  of  hu- 
man contrivance  vanish  into  their  original  darkness: — that 
truth,  which  shall  endure,  and  shine  brighter  and  brighter, 
when  this  world,  with  all  its  wisdom  and  philosophy,  "shall 
pass  away  with  a  great  noise,"  and  be  no  more  seen  for  ever. 

To  the  gospel,  then,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  and  to  the 
gospel  alone,  must  we  look  for  the  solution  of  every  difiicul- 
ty,  and  of  ever}^  doubt,  which  attends  our  present  condition. 
To  that  also  must  we  come — and,  thanks  be  to  God  for  the 
blessed  privilege,  to  that  may  we  freely  come — for  help  and 
deliverance,  for  comfort  and  consolation,  for  grace  and  truth, 
through  Jesus  Chkist  our  Lord.  Man,  tlie  favored  creature 
of  Almighty  God,  made  in  the  image  of  his  Creator,  and  amply 
jjrovided  with  all  that  was  needful  for  his  happiness,  by  wilful 
disobedience  drew  down  upon  himself,  and  upon  creation, 


KEYELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH.       139 

the  curse  of  God.  Hence  the  origin  of  that  sin  and  misery, 
which  prevails  in  this  world.  But  mercy,  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  eternal  and  (#ily  begotten  Son  of  God,  in- 
terposed in  behalf  of  the  condemned  criminal,  arrested  the 
uplifted  stroke  of  infinite  justice  by  the  substitution  of  him- 
self; and  thereby  converted  the  present  life,  with  all  its  load 
of  guilt  and  suffering,  of  sorrow  and  disappointment,  into  a 
state  of  renewed  trial  and  probation  for  the  attainment  of 
eternal  life,  on  the  condition  of  faith  and  renewed  obedience. 
To  satisfy  the  demands  of  infinite  justice,  purity,  and  holi- 
ness, invaded  by  the  presence  of  sin;  to  bear  the  punishment, 
which  the  broken  law  inexorably  demanded,  and  without 
which  no  propitiation  could  be  efiected — ior  without  shedding 
of  hlood  there  is  no  remissio?i;  to  teach  us  authoritatively  the 
will  of  God,  and  to  set  before  us  an  example  of  all  holiness, 
humility,  and  patience,  in  the  very  nature  which  had  sinned 
— the  Son  of  God  took  our  nature  upon  him,  became  the 
representative  of  the  human  race,  paid  with  his  own  spotless 
life  the  ransom  of  their  forfeited  lives,  and  ratified  in  the 
blood  of  his  cross  a  new  covenant  of  grace  and  mercy  be- 
tween God  and  man,  in  which  repentance  is  accepted,  and 
made  available  to  the  pardon  of  sin,  through  faith  in  the 
atoning  virtue  of  his  blood  poured  out  upon  the  cross  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.  And  the  sincere  though  imperfect 
obedience  of  sinful  creatures,  is  accepted  before  God,  through 
his  mediation  and  intercession.  This,  my  brethren,  is  the 
"gospel  of  the  ever  blessed  God — the  glad  tidings  of  great 
joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people" — to  the  blessings  and 
benefits  of  which  state  of  salvation,  it  hath  pleased  God  to 
call  you,  my  friends.  This  is  the  "wisdom  of  God  in  a 
mystery" — the  revelation  of  "the  hidden  mystery,  which  was 
kept  secret  since  the  world  began,  but  now  is  made  manifest, 
and  by  the  Scriptures  of  the  prophets,  according  to  the  com- 
mandment of  the  everlasting  God,  is  made  known  to  all 
nations  for  the  obedience  of  faith."  These  are  the  high  dis- 
coveries which  the  gospel  makes  to  our  faith,  and  which 
nothing  but  infinite  love  and  wisdom  could  have  so  adapted 
to  our  wants  and  wishes,  that  in  the  fullness  and  fi'ceness  of 
gospel  grace,  there  is  a  sufllciency,  even  for  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners.    "0,  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and 


140  KEVELATION    THE   FOUNDATION   OF   FAITH. 

knowledge  of  God."  Sin  condemned  and  atoned  for,  by  the 
same  act — the  law  satisfied,  its  rigor  relaxed,  and  "the 
righteousness  which  is  of  fa»th"  established — "life  and  im- 
mortality brought  to  light,"  by  the  clear  and  full  discovery 
of  another  life  after  this — a  judgment  day  declared,  and  the 
very  manner  of  that  judgment  represented,  wherein  all  who 
have  ever  lived  shall  "give  account  of  themselves  to  God," 
and  be  rewarded  or  punished  everlastingly,  "according  to 
the  deeds  done  in  the  body." 

Now  let  me  ask,  in  what  wilderness  of  thought  could  the 
wisdom  of  the  world  have  stumbled  on  such  discoveries  as 
these,  and  so  put  them  together  as  to  harmonize  with  the  per- 
fections of  God,  and  the  imperfections  of  his  fallen,  sinful 
creature,  as  is  manifested  in  the  glorious  plan  of  our  redemp- 
tion by  Jesus  Chkist?  O  ye  disputers  of  this  world,  who 
vainly  strive  to  bolster  up  the  misgivings  of  your  own  hearts, 
by  an  affectation  of  doubt  on  the  i-evelation  of  the  gospel — 
but  in  the  hour  of  danger  give  the  lie  to  your  own  vain  talk- 
ings,  and  flee  to  the  consolations  and  hopes  which  that  alone 
can  give — why  do  you  thus  sin  against  your  own  souls?  Is 
there  any  thing  disgraceful  in  accepting  mercy  or  receiving 
favor  at  the  hand  of  Ahnighty  God?  Is  there  any  thing  low 
or  unbecoming  in  humbling  yourselves  to  submit  to  the 
righteousness  of  God,  that  he  may  save  you  by  a  way  you 
know  not  of?  Come  on  now,  bring  your  boasted  reason  to 
the  trial,  and  let  us  see  what  you  can  substitute  for  "that 
grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salvation,"  Suit  yourselves 
every  way,  so  that  no  earthly  objection  shall  be  found  against 
your  metiiod  of  salvation — and  what  then!  Alas,  yourselves 
dare  not  trust  it.  It  is  of  man,  the  production  of  a  perishing 
creature,  and  must  go,  with  its  autlior,  to  a  tribunal  that  is 
eternal.  For  it  is  written,  "As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  every 
knee  shall  bow  to  me,  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  to  God." 

II.  Secondly,  I  am  to  show  that  these  discoveries  are 
adapted  to  a  state  or  condition  of  the  world,  from  which  it 
was  desirable  to  be  delivered. 

The  condition  of  man  as  a  sinner,  and  consequently  liable 
to  wrath  and  punishment,  and  conscious  that  he  is  thus 
liable,  is  demonstrated  by  all  that  has  hitherto  been  dis- 
covered  concerning  him.     "Wherever  he  is  found,  whether 


EEVELATION  THE  FOUXDATION  OF  FAITH,       141 

civilized  or  savage,  a  seuse  of  guilt  cleaving  to  him  is  mani- 
fested; and  religion,  in  some  shape  or  other,  is  the  refuge  to 
which  he  flees  for  relief  and  comfort.  Conscious  that  he  is 
under  the  control  and  within  the  power  of  an  invisible  and 
omnipotent  Eeing,  with  wliom  he  is  at  variance,  and  whom 
it  is  both  his  duty  and  his  interest  to  propitiate,  every  device 
which  ignorance  and  fear  can  prompt  superstition  to  invent, 
has  been  resorted  to,  to  appease  the  wrath  and  avert  the  in- 
dignation of  that  Supreme  Being  who  is  thus  ignorantly 
worshipped.  In  this  universal  worsliip  there  is  one  circum- 
stance, my  bretiiren,  which  is  common  to  all  the  shapes  and 
forms  with  which  it  has  been  invested:  which  is  this — the 
vicarious  substitution  of  man  or  animal,  as  a  sacrifice,  to 
avert  wrath  from  the  worshipper  himself.  Wherever  man  is 
found,  even  in  the  most  degraded  and  brutal  state  in  which 
recent  discovery  has  represented  him  to  our  notice,  where  no 
other  trace  of  religion  is  to  be  seen,  the  victim  bleeds,  and 
life  is  offered  up  to  appease  and  propitiate.  An  experience 
thus  general,  my  hearers,  is  with  me  a  most  conclusive  argu- 
ment for  the  truth  of  revelation;  for  it  is  not  to  be  accounted 
for,  that  such  should  be  the  universal  impression  and  practice, 
but  from  the  identity  of  the  human  race,  the  community  of 
guilt,  and  the  tradition  of  that  sacrifice  which  was  instituted 
upon  the  entrance  of  sin,  as  a  type  of  that  great  sin-offering 
presented  on  Calvary,  "which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world." 

The  great  volume  of  nature,  my  brethren,  unquestionably 
points  the  creature  to  the  Creator,  and  as  God,  it  is  his  first 
duty  to  honor  and  to  worship  ZT^'m,  who  "giveth  to  all  his 
creatures  life  and  breath  and  all  things."  But  alas,  the 
power  of  sin  hath  so  weakened  and  corrupted  his  faculties, 
that  this  grand  and  universally  legible  record  of  God  is  a 
sealed  book  to  him,  as  to  himself.  Amid  the  beauties  and 
bounties  of  nature,  man  sees  and  feels  the  effects  of  the  curse, 
and  shrinks  in  terror  and  dismay  from  that  awful  being, 
who  rides  in  the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm.  If  he  re- 
flects at  all,  be  perceives  that  himself  is  nothing,  even  here, 
where  he  is  lord  of  all  below.  And  if  an  anxious  thought 
should  burst  the  barrier  of  sensible  things,  and  inquire  be- 
yond the  grave,  nature  has  no  sweet  discovery  wherewith  to 


14:2  KEVELATION   THE   FOUNDATION   OF   FAITH. 

relieve  the  anxious  soul,  which  pants  for  immortality.  If  ho 
lias  advanced  to  the  supreme  and  eternal  Cause  of  all  being 
by  the  study  of  his  works,  he  beholds  God  in  all  the  pleni- 
tude of  his  incommunicable  attributes,  he  beholds  himself 
without  any  claim  to  his  notice  and  regard,  but  what  he  has 
in  common  with  every  otlier  creature  to  whom  life  is  given. 
Nature's  volume  contains  no  record  of  sympathy  and  com- 
passion for  deceived  and  ruined  mortals.  Yet  something 
within  him  would  claim  a  nearer  relationship — the  immortal 
aspii'ing  principle,  which  God  breathed  into  him  with  the 
breath  of  life,  would  soar  to  its  original  kindred  in  the 
heavens.  But  guilt,  the  guilt  of  sin,  hath  put  a  bar  between 
them,  which  nature  cannot  remove.  No,  dear  brethren, 
without  the  gospel,  there  is  neither  help  nor  hope  for  sinners. 
Thus  surrounded  by  a  power  which  ho  cannot  escape;  con- 
scious of  a  guilt,  which  he  cannot  remove;  desirous  to  pro- 
pitiate, but  ignorant  of  what  will  be  acceptable;  exposed  to 
the  evil  which  sin  hath  entailed  upon  the  present  life;  death, 
sooner  or  later,  certain  and  inevitable;  another  state  of  being, 
after  this,  shrouded  from  his  view  in  all  the  uncertainty  of 
unrevealed  conjecture,  yet  nevetheless  what  gives  shape  and 
substance  to  all  his  fears: — what  is  there  in  such  a  condition 
desirable?  or,  rather,  my  friends,  what  is  there  in  it,  from 
which  it  is  not  above  all  things  desirable  to  be  delivered? 
And,  thanks  be  to  God,  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Cueist  in 
the  gospel,  we  are  delivered  from  this  dark  and  dismal  state 
of  doubt  and  dismay.  It  is  our  unspeakable  blessing,  my 
dear  hearers,  to  know  the  gracious  purpose  of  Almighty  God, 
in  permitting  that  mixed  state  of  moral  and  natural  evil 
which  this  present  world  presents  to  our  notice.  It  is  ours 
to  know,  that  his  power  and  providence  stand  engaged  to 
make  it  work  together  for  his  glory  and  our  good.  It  is  ours 
to  look  up  to  him  with  reverence  and  love,  as  our  reconciled 
father  in  Chkist  Jesus.  It  is  ours  to  know  the  propitiation 
which  is  always  acceptable  in  his  sight,  even  the  blood  of 
his  only  begotten  Son,  "which  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  It  is 
ours  to  know  his  will,  and  to  have  power  to  do  it,  through 
the  grace  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  ours  to  look  be- 
yond the  grave,  to  a  never-ending  existence,  in  which  the 
awful  sanctions  of  religion  shall  be  applied  to  the  deeds  done 


REVELATION   THE   FOUNDATION    OP   FAITH.  liS 

in  this  body,  by  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  in  the  re- 
wards and  punishments  of  eternity.  And  it  is  our  high, 
privilege,  my  brethren  in  the  Lord,  by  virtue  of  the  victory 
given  us  over  death,  hell,  and  the  grave,  through  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  to  look  forward  with  humble  yet  joyful 
hope,  with  lively  and  assured  faith,  "to  an  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible, undefiled,  and  which  fadeth  not  away,"  reserved  in 
heaven  for  us. 

These  are  the  discoveries  of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  gospel 
alone.  These  are  the  otherwise  impossible  discoveries,  made 
to  mankind  by  revelation,  adapted  to  that  destitute  and  help- 
less condition  in  which  sin  had  sunk  the  world;  from  which 
it  was  surely  most  desirable  to  be  delivered:  and  which  God 
hath  "commanded  to  be  preached  among  all  nations  for  the 
obedience,  of  faith."  Which  brings  me  to  what  was  pro- 
posed as  the  third  head  of  this  discourse. 

III.  Thirdly,  I  am  to  show,  that  the  preaching  of  the  word 
is  the  regular,  appointed  means  for  making  known  to  the 
world  the  methods  of  God's  grace  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

To  our  habits  of  thought  and  action,  my  hearers,  the  pro- 
position stands  in  need  of  no  proof:  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  is  the  com- 
mission of  the  author  of  our  religion  to  his  ministers:  But  to 
impress  upon  you  more  deeply,  the  great  importance  of  the 
appointment,  and  to  point  out  the  benefits  which  in  every 
age  of  the  world  mankind  have  derived,  and  will  yet  derive, 
from  a  preached  gospel,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  more 
at  large,  the  fitness  of  the  means  to  the  end. 

It  is  certainly  not  for  us  to  say,  by  what  various  methods 
the  wisdom  and  the  power  of  Almighty  God  might  have  pro- 
vided for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  the  world.  But  this 
we  may  say,  that  unless  by  resorting  once  more  to  the  al- 
ready abortive  channel  of  tradition,  or  by  the  intervention  of 
a  perpetual  miracle,  the  appointment  he  hath  been  pleased 
to  make  of  public  preacliiug  of  the  gospel,  is  the  wisest  and 
best,  because  best  adapted  to  the  nature  and  condition  of 
those  for  whom  it  is  designed. 

For,  had  it  pleased  God,  that  this  revelation  of  his  will 
should  have  been  made  to  all  men,  in  every  place  and  in 
every  age  of  the  world — to  every  generation  of  men,  and  to 


14i       REVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITn. 

every  individual  in  eacli  generation — we  cannot  comprebend 
how  this  could  be  done,  without  involving  a  standing  miracle: 
whicli  circumstance,  independent  of  tlie  infringement  it 
would  be  of  tliat  freedom  vviiich  alone  constitutes  us  moral 
agents,  must  soon  cease,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  to 
be  miraculous  to  us;  for  to  apprehensions  such  as  ours,  a 
perpetual  miracle  involves  a  contradiction.  Besides,  on  the 
plan  of  a  perpetually  renewed  revelation,  "must  Chbist  often 
have  suffered  since  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

On  the  other  hand,  had  tradition  again  been  resorted  to  for 
the  spread,  and  continuance  in  tlie  world,  of  the  revelation 
made  by  the  Son  of  God,  all  experience  went  to  prove,  that 
however  high  and  holy  tlie  de])osit — however  express  tlie 
command,  to  transmit  it  down  from  generation  to  generation 
— it  would  speedily  have  been  corrupted,  and  become  as  im- 
pure as  the  channel  through  which  it  flowed,  as  uncertain 
and  inefficient  as  any  other  legend. 

But  now,  my  bretliren,  by  a  fixed  revelation  of  his  will, 
attested  and  verified  with  a  precision  which  renders  criminal 
the  obstinacy  that  will  not  receive  it  as  the  truth  of  God;  and 
by  the  appointment  of  public  preaching  of  the  word,  by  per- 
sons having  his  commission  therefor;  Goohatii  graciously  re- 
moved every  difficulty,  and  wisely  provided,  that  every  gene- 
ration as  it  comes  forward  on  the  great  theatre  of  life  shall, 
in  this  respect,  be  equal — and  that  to  "every  nation,  and 
kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth,"  the  word  of  this  salvation  shall  thus  be  sent, 
and  all  mankind  be  furnished  with  the  high  discoveries  and 
holy  hope  of  the  gospel  of  Christ — that  high  and  low,  rich 
and  poor,  bond  and  free,  as  they  all  stand  in  the  same  rela- 
tion to  God,  may  alike  be  partakers  of  the  riches  of  his  grace, 
and  of  the  means  and  of  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

But  not  only  to  make  known  the  terms  and  conditions  of 
the  gospel  for  salvation  to  sinners,  is  the  preaching  of  the 
word  appointed;  but  to  keep  alive,  also,  the  impressions  of 
•livine  grace,  to  convey  and  confer  that  grace  in  the  sacra- 
ments of  salvation,  and  to  further  and  help — to  instruct  and 
])uild  up — the  disciples  of  Christ,  in  the  most  holy  faith,  is 
the  office  and  duty  of  those  "who  are  put  in  trust  with  the 


REVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH.       145 

gospel."  As  it  also  is,  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  to 
warn  the  unruly,  to  reprove  the  disobedient,  to  rebuke  the 
rebellious,  to  encourage  the  timid,  to  strengthen  the  feeble 
minded,  and  to  comfort  the  mourner,  "warning  every  man, 
(says  the  ajiostle,)  and  teaching  every  man,  that  we  may  pre- 
sent every  man  perfect,  in  Jesus  Christ." 

With  so  high  and  holy  a  purpose,  dependent  on  this  pro- 
vision of  the  wisdom  of  God  for  our  salvation,  the  interest  we 
all  have  that  it  should  be  encouraged  and  promoted,  is  ex- 
actly equal  to  the  consequences  which  are  connected  with  it. 
And  as  these  are  infinite  and  eternal,  most  presumptuously 
do  those  ofiend  against  God,  and  sin  against  their  own  souls, 
who  needlessly  absent  themselves  from  the  public  appoint- 
ments of  religion,  or  attend  U23on  them  without  reverence. 
"When  we  consider,  moreover,  my  friends,  that  "faith"  itself 
"cometh  by  hearing,"  and  that  God  hath  specially  promised 
the  light  and  comfort  of  his  Holt  Spirit  to  the  devout  and 
reverent  hearing  of  his  word  preached,  it  might  serve  to  con- 
vince many,  who  are  negligent  in  this  respect,  what  a  risk 
they  run,  of  never  "coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
that  they  may  be  saved;"  and  how  foolish,  and  even  impious, 
it  is,  to  expect  God's  blessing,  while  they  neglect  the  very 
means  he  has  appointed  for  obtaining  it. 

But  let  me  not  be  misunderstood,  as  if  I  confined  our  duty, 
under  the  blessing  of  God's  word,  to  the  mere  hearing  of  it 
preached.  No,  my  brethren;  what  is  preached  according  to 
"the  mind  of  the  Spmrr,"  must  be  retained  and  acted  upon. 
!Nor  yet,  that  I  confine  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
the  word  preached.  1n''o,  my  hearers;  reading  the  Scriptures, 
with  meditation  and  prayer,  is  an  excellent  and  fruitful  means 
of  grace.  Neither  our  private  nor  our  public  religious  du- 
ties, are  substitutes  the  one  for  the  other.  When  they  go 
hand  in  hand  together — when,  like  the  Bereans  of  primitive 
times,  we  search  the  Scriptures  to  see  whether  what  we  hear 
preached  is  the  truth  of  God,  and  as  such  receive  it;  then  it 
is,  that  the  full  benefit  of  the  gospel  is  most  surely  to  be  ex- 
pected, and  is  most  generally  found. 
.  lY.  Fourthly,  as  the  discoveries  of  the  gospel  are  of  divine 
revelation,  so  is  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the  adminis- 
[Vol.  1,— *10.] 


i4(>  REVELATION   THE  FOUNDATION   OF   FAITH. 

tration  of  the  gospel  by  a  divine  commission — "And  how 
shall  they  preach,  except  they  be  sent?" 

On  this  point  but  little  would  be  required  to  be  said,  were 
it  not  for  the  operation  of  tliose  dissensions  and  divisions  in 
Christianity,  which  by  length  of  time,  and  the  established 
habit  of  thought,  and  the  power  of  prejudice,  and  the  perti- 
nacity of  party  feeling,  and,  I  may  add,  tlje  apathy  and  in- 
diflerence  of  an  unbelieving  age,  have  fulfilled  the  predictions 
of  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,  defaced  the  beauty 
and  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  and  cut  the  nerves  of  revealed 
religion. 

Yet,  my  hearers,  in  this,  as  in  all  other  the  appointments 
of  heaven  tor  our  good,  God  hath  not  left  himself  without 
witness,  or  placed  his  creatures  under  any  necessity  of  erring 
from  his  way,  or  of  defeating  the  comfort  and  assurance  de- 
rived from  the  gospel^  by  reason  of  uncertainty  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  word  of  his  truth,  and  the  means  of  his  grace. 
By  an  undeniable  appointment  of  the  first  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  certainty  and  assurance  were  given  to  the  first  converts 
to  Christianity,  that  their  faith  was  not  built  on  a  cunningly 
devised  fable,  the  contrivance  of  human  wisdom,  but  on  the 
power  of  God,  certified  to  their  senses  by  the  mighty  power 
of  the  Holt  Ghost.  On  this  foundation  the  Church  of  Christ 
was  planted  and  built  up;  and  on  this  foundation  it  must  con- 
tinue to  the  end  of  the  world,  or  cease  to  be  the  Church  of 
the  living  God.  For,  while  faith  shall  continue  to  be  the 
essence  of  religion,  it  must  be  derived  from  the  same  source; 
while  revelation  shall  continue  to  be  the  only  ground  of  laith, 
it  must  be  derived  from  the  word  of  God;  while  the  word  of 
God  shall  continue  supreme  for  the  direction  of  man  in  his 
spiritual  concerns,  it  must  be  certified  to  his  senses,  as  the 
standard  of  all  duty  and  of  all  hope;  and,  while  it  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  preached  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of  faith, 
it  must  be  accompanied  with  the  same  divine  commission 
and  authority  by  which  it  was  verified  at  the  beginning,  as 
the  truth  of  God,  for  man's  salvation.  Now  as  faith,  consid- 
ered as  a  religious  principle,  is  inseparable  from  divine  ope- 
ration and  divine  warrant  for  what  is  believed,  not  only  is 
the  revelation  itself,  but  all  other  ministrations  connected 
with  the  religion  thus  established,  dependent  for  certainty 


REVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH.       14:7 

and  effect  on  the  same  principle.  As  it  is  competent  to  uo 
man  to  declare  the  will  of  God  without  revelation,  so  neither 
is  it  competent  for  any  to  administer  the  affairs  of  Cheist's 
kingdom,  "except  he  be  sent" — that  is,  as  the  apostle  evi- 
dently means,  except  he  be  duly  authorized  thereto:  a  con- 
clusion so  clear  and  so  reasonable,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
wise,  and  so  profitable  to  creatures  dependent  on  the  use  of 
means  for  spiritual  attainment,  as  to  create  wonder  that  it 
should  ever  have  been,  or  yet  continue  to  be,  overlooked  and 
disregarded  by  Christian  people. 

Hence  is  derived  the  importance  of  all  the  services  here  to 
be  performed  this  day — the  worship  of  God — his  law  pro- 
claimed— his  word  preached — his  sacraments  administered — 
and  his  commission  transferred  to  an  approved  servant,  pro- 
fessing to  be  moved  by  the  Holt  Ghost  to  take  upon  him 
this  office  and  ministry,  but  outwardly  commissioned  for  the 
assurance  of  tliose  to  whom  he  shall  minister.  What,  my 
brethren  and  hearers,  would  they  all  be  worth,  separate  from 
the  divine  authority,  whereby  they  are  certified  as  the  ap- 
pointments of  God  for  your  salvation?  "How  shall  they 
preach  except  they  be  sent?" 

Sucli,  my  brethren  and  friends,  being  "the  gospel  of  the 
ever  blessed  God,"  which  hath  reached  so  far  as  even  unto 
us,  bringing  with  it  the  grand  and  profitable  discovery  of  our 
wants,  and  of  God's  mercies — and  such  the  appointment  of 
his  wisdom  for  continuing  the  knowledge  of  his  will  and  the 
help  of  liis  grace  among  men,  by  the  ministry  of  the  word; 
— what  becomes  us,  who  are  so  highly  favored,  and  so  richly 
provided  for  in  our  greatest  interest?  Shall  it  be  a  dead  let- 
ter to  us  through  neglect,  or  life  and  power  unto  salvation, 
through  attention?  This  question  it  is  your  part  to  answer; 
and  "I  beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of  God,"  to  lay  it  near 
your  heart.  Every  thing  will  depend  on  the  temper  and 
spirit  with  which  you  consider  it.  For  the  apostle  tells  us, 
that  in  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  the  ministers  of  Christ 
"are  a  savour  of  life,  or  a  savour  of  death,"  according  as  "the 
word  preached  is  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  hear  it."  I 
have  met  you  to-day,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  in  the  sim- 
plicity of  that  gospel  in  which  you  stand,  and  have  laid  it 
before  you,  in  its  first  lines,  as  it  were.    Shall  I  then  be  the 


148       KEVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH. 

savour  of  life,  or  of  death,  to  you,  or  any  of  you?  This  also 
will  depend  greatly  on  yourselves;  and  I  jDray  to  God,  to  help 
you  to  a  right  understanding  of  what  may  turn,  perhaps,  on 
the  choice  of  this  hour — even  your  future  and  eternal  con- 
dition. The  gospel  is  your  salvation  or  condemnation,  as 
you  receive  or  reject  it;  you  cannot  escape  from  that  fixed 
rule  by  which  you  must  be  judged  and  sentenced  everlast- 
ingly. But  a  little  while,  my  friends,  and  '4ie  that  shall 
come,  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry."  He  comes  to  take  ac- 
count of  his  servants,  according  to  what  he  hath  committed 
unto  each  man's  trust.  At  your  hands  he  will  demand  an 
improvement  of  gospel  light,  gospel  privileges,  and  gospel 
grace — and  nothing  short  of  improvement  will  answer.  The 
unprofitable  servant,  remember,  returned  his  lord's  talent 
safe  and  uninjured;  but  was  consigned  to  outer  darkness  be- 
cause he  had  not  made  an  increase  of  it.  "What  then  must 
be  the  portion  of  those,  who  not  only  have  not  improved,  but 
have  abused,  wasted  and  dissipated,  profaned  and  despised, 
this  richest  gift  of  God's  love?  And  think  me  not  your 
enemy,  my  friends,  because  I  thus  speak — No:  God  knoweth, 
that  for  your  souls  I  would  spend  and  be  spent — and  O  that 
I  had  a  tongue  of  fire,  that  I  might  consume  every  opposing 
thought,  and  bring  every  soul  now  before  me,  to  know  the 
gospel  of  Cheist  to  be  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation!'^ 
Ton  are  here,  my  brethren,  this  day,  in  the  house  of  God, 
and  as  the  people  of  God.  The  everlasting  gospel  is  pro- 
posed to  you;  and  what  hindereth,  that  yon  should  not  close 
in  with  its  most  gracious  oflTers?  "All  things  are  now  ready; 
come  to  the  marriaoje."  O  befrin  not  "with  one  consent  to 
make  excuse,  and  go  away,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his 
merchandize,  and  another"  to  his  profession!  For  there  is  an 
awful  threat  in  this  very  gospel,  that  those  who  make  such 
excuses,  shall  not  taste  of  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb. 
Oh!  it  is  a  fearful  thought,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  to  re- 
flect on  the  heedlessness  and  inadvertence  of  redeemed  sinners, 
under  this  rich  provision  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus 
for  their  salvation!  It  is  a  heart-sinking  prospect  to  behold 
the  thousands  of  accountable  immortals,  who,  Gallio  like, 
"care  for  none  of  these  things,"  but  follow  the  carnal  mind 
in  its  rejection  of  God,  and  preference  of  the  world.    Yet  if 


REVELATION  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  FAITH.       149 

we  have  hearts  awakened  for  ourselves,  they  must  feel  for 
the  sin  deceived  multitudes,  who  madly  put  away  from  them 
the  words  of  eternal  life.  And  what  they  thus  feel,  they 
must  manifest;  for  there  is  no  middle  ground  on  which  we 
can  contemplate  man  in  any  moment  of  his  existence,  other 
than  as  in  the  favor,  or  under  the  curse  of  his  Maker. 

This,  my  brethren  of  the  clergy,  is  the  anxious  oppressive 
thought,  which  weighs  down  the  spirit  of  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  under  the  apathy  and  indifference  wherewith  the  gos- 
pel is  received.  But  "whether  they  will  hear,  or  whether 
they  will  forbear — necessity  is  laid  upon  us;  yea,  woe  be  to 
us  if  we  preach  not  the  gospel."  Arm  yourself,  therefore, 
my  brother,  who  will  this  day  be  invested  with  Christ's  com- 
mission to  preach  the  gospel  and  administer  the  sacraments 
of  the  grace  of  Gtod.  Arm  yourself  with  a  steadfast  mind, 
fully  and  faithfully  to  administer  the  trust  committed  you.  You 
have  to  go  forth  among  this  heedless  and  unconcerned  race 
of  fallen  creatures.  You  have  to  rouse  them  from  the  lethargy 
of  unbelief — to  awaken  them  from  the  dream  of  mortality, 
and  point  their  thoughts,  their  anxieties,  their  exertions,  to 
the  realities  of  another  being — and  to  apply  the  sanctions  of 
eternity  to  the  pursuits  and  occupations  of  time.  You  pro- 
fess to  be  called  of  God  to  this  great  work.  Believing  this, 
we  this  day  clothe  you  with  Christ's  commission,  derived 
from  his  holy  apostles,  to  "call  sinners  to  repentance."  Com- 
mending you  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  exhorting  you  to 
"make  full  proof  of  the  ministry,"  and  to  bear  in  mind  that 
you  have  to  account  for  immortal  souls;  we  bid  you  God 
speed.  And  may  he  who  hath  the  remainder  of  the  Spirit, 
and  who  alone  givetli  the  increase,  be  with  you  in  your  work, 
to  the  advancement  of  his  glory,  the  good  of  his  Church,  the 
safety,  honor,  and  welfare  of  his  people. 

Now  unto  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the 
Holy  Ghost — the  only  living  and  true  God — be  all  honor 
and  glory,  now  and  forever. 


A   SERMON, 

PREACHED  BEFORE  THE  BIBLE  SOCIETY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA, 
On  Sunday,  December  12,  1824. 

PREFACE. 

In  presenting  the  following  discourse  to  the  public,  no 
other  view  is  entertained,  than  that  of  enabling  every  person 
who  chooses  to  pass  upon  the  question,  to  have  the  question 
itself,  and  not  the  misrepresentations  of  either  editors  or  ene- 
mies to  found  his  judgment  upon. 

That  the  view  taken  of  the  subject  is  novel,  is,  in  one  sense 
of  the  w^ord,  true;  in  the  more  general  meaning  of  that  word, 
it  is  not  true.  It  is  novel  or  new,  in  that  sense  only,  in  which 
it  is  in  opposition  to  the  current  in  which  the  public  mind 
has  long  been  directed  by  the  tenor  of  the  public  or  pulpit 
instruction  given  to  it.  But  it  is  not  novel  or  new,  as  respects 
the  fundamental  and  irrefragable  principles  of  that  religion, 
on  w^hich  the  hope  of  man  for  hereafter  is  founded;  nor  yet 
is  it  novel  or  new,  in  the  sense  of  being  first  presented  by  the 
author.  Hundreds,  whose  names  will  never  perish,  have 
stood  forth  to  stay  the  plague,  and  have  in  substance,  though 
not  perhaps  in  manner,  advocated  the  same  cause.  If  these 
publications  have  not  reached  this  length,  the  greater  the 
pity,  and  the  greater  the  necessity  that  the  thousands  of  im- 
mortal souls  who  live  in  trust  of  the  integrity  of  their  spirit- 
ual guides,  should  be  informed  and  induced  to  examine  for 
themselves.  But  this  they  will  not  do,  so  long  as  those  to 
whom  they  naturally  look  up,  are  themselves  the  advocates 
of  a  specious  but  dangerous  error.  And  when  an  erroneous 
principle  has  received  the  sanction  of  great  names,  and  nu- 
merous associations,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  stem  the  tide 
of  popular  prejudice.  Yet  the  obligation  is  not  thereby  les- 
sened on  the  part  of  those,  whose  exclusive  duty  it  is  to  deal 
with  divine  truth — who  in  the  emphatic  language  of  Scrip- 
ture "are  put  in  trust  with  tlie  gospel." 

On  this  ground  the  author  rests,  for  the  defence  of  the 


152  PEEFACE, 

course  he  has  taken  in  the  following  discourse.  He  has  long 
lamented  the  injurious  tendency  of  the  favorite  principle  of 
the  Bible  Societies  in  question.  He  thinks  he  has  witnessed 
its  dangerous,  because  irreligious,  effect;  and  he  took  the  op- 
portunity afforded  by  the  Anniversary  Sermon,  to  lay  before 
this  Bible  Society,  and  all  who  should  be  present,  what  he 
believes  to  be  a  just  view  of  the  subject,  without  once  reflect- 
ing on  any  collateral  propriety. 

It  has  been  attempted  on  former  occasions,  as  well  as  on 
the  present,  to  deny  the  interpretation  given  to  the  words 
"without  note  or  comment."  But  that  it  is  the  only  true  in- 
terpretation— the  only  practical  meaning  of  the  phrase — is 
evident,  from  the  unanimity  with  which  all  descriptions  of 
Eeligionists  adopt  it;  and  even  the  enemies  of  Christianity 
subscribe  to  it.  It  leaves  the  field  free  for  their  respective 
emissaries  to  give  their  separate  and  opposite  constructions 
to  the  one  faitli  of  the  gospel.  Yet  certain  it  is — Emperors, 
and  Kings,  and  Princes,  and  nobles,  and  opposing  religious 
denominations,  amalgamated  into  Bible  Societies,  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding: — certain  it  is,  there  is  but  one  saving 
interpretation  of  divine  truth,  one  prescribed  channel  of 
hope,  and  means  of  grace,  revealed  to  fallen  man. 

That  the  interpretation  of  the  words  "without  note  or  com- 
ment," adhered  to  by  the  author  of  the  Sermon,  is  in  deed 
and  truth,  that  of  the  Societies  themselves,  he  offers  to  sub- 
mit to  the  following  test: 

Let  any  Bible  Society,  not  an  auxiliary — let  the  great  mo- 
ther of  all,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society — be  con- 
vened, to  decide  on  which  of  the  various  denominations  of 
Christians  sliall  be  authorized  by  them,  as  a  body,  to  inter- 
pret the  faith,  and  administer  the  sacraments  of  the  gospel — 
yea,  to  present  some  single  commentator  as  a  safe  guide  to 
the  ignorant  and  unlearned — and  then  see  whether  they  can 
agree.  If  they  can,  or,  if  in  the  mind  of  a.j\y  reasonable  man 
there  is  the  remotest  probability  of  it — on  the  contrary,  if  it 
does  not  split  them  into  shivers, — then  i&  the  author  wrong 
in  the  view  he  has  taken  of  it.  Otherwise,  he  must  retain 
the  meaning  he  has  annexed  to  the  talismanic  words  "with- 
out note  or  comment."  Let  the  North  Carolina  Bible  Society 
try  it  at  their  next  general  meeting,  and  thus  prove  or  disr 


PKEFACE.  153 

prove  what  this  enemy  to  Bible  Societies  has  had  the  temer- 
ity to  call  in  question.  This  will  refute  the  Sermon  better 
than  all  the  railings  of  men  who  vainly  think  that  the  truth 
of  God  is  th^'  creature  of  human  opinion,  and  to  take  its  cha- 
racter from  the  fluctuations  of  such  a  standard.  If  theirs  is 
the  truth  of  this  controversy,  let  them  meet  this  ordeal. 

Of  the  injurious  effect  of  this  principle  upon  religion  at 
large,  in  lowering  the  importance  of  the  Bible,  lessening  the 
reverence  due  to  the  sacraments  of  the  gospel,  and  encour- 
aging the  infidel  notions  exposed  in  the  body  of  the  Sermon, 
the  author,  unhappily,  can  desire  no  more  striking  proof, 
than  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  first  of  that  series  of 
newspaper  publications,  which  followed  the  delivery  of  the 
sermon.* 

As  it  seems  to  be  the  determination  of  many,  who  write 
and  speak  on  this  subject,  to  denounce  the  author  as  an  ene- 
my to  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures,  notwithstanding  hia 
express  declarations  to  the  contrary,  he  thinks  proper  to  re- 
peat, most  solemnly,  that  the  charge  is  wholly  unfounded. 
He  is  opposed  only  to  the  erroneous  and  injurious  principle, 
on  which  the  greater  number  and  most  efficient,  but  not  all, 
Bible  Societies  act:  there  being,  both  in  Europe  and  Ameri- 
ca, Bible  Societies,  who  are  operating  with  zeal  and  effect, 
in  disseminating  the  word  of  God  to  all  who  are  in  want, 
both  Heathen  and  Christian,  accompanied  with  the  authority 
of  God,  and  with  the  sacraments  of  consolation  and  assu- 
rance. And  nothing  but  tlie  poverty  and  depression  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  this  Diocese  has  prevented  the  attempt 
to  unite  her  exertions  with  them,  in  so  sacred  a  cause. 

Nor  yet  is  the  author  opposed  to  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures without  a  commentator,  as  is  falsely  charged  against 
him.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  many  witnesses,  how  earnest- 
ly and  repeatedly  he  presses  the  study  of  the  word  of  God 
upon  his  hearers;  and  it  is  his  invariable  rule,  when  consulted 

*The  following  are  the  sentiments  refeiTcd  to.  "Nor  do  we  consider  the 
diversity  «f  opinion  among  men  on  the  subject  of  religion,  as  an  evil  to  be 
lamented.  All  that  is  necessary  to  produce  happiness  under  such  circum- 
stances is,  that  men  should  think  charitably  of  each  other,  and  agree  to  differ, 
believing  that  every  one  who  professes  himself  to  be  guided  by  the  principles 
of  the  gospel,  leads  a  good  life,  is  sincere  in  his  profession,  and  will  here- 
after be  approved  by  his  Maker." 


154  PREFACE. 

vvLat  commentator  to  begin  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
with,  to  answer,  none;  recommending  to  all,  to  be  first  well 
grounded  in  the  Scriptures  themselves,  by  reading,  medita- 
tion, and  prayer,  when  a  sound  and  judicious  commentator 
may  be  helpful;  but  previous  to  which,  he  will  onl}--  lead  the 
beginner  into  his  own  particular  views,  whatever  these  may 
be,  so  that,  if  he  happens  to  be  right,  it  is  not  understand- 
ingly — he  may  easily  be  shaken;  if  he  happens  to  be  wrong, 
h'e  is  fortified  in  error,  and  cannot  readily  be  set  right. 

It  is  due  to  the  subject,  and  to  the  public  also,  to  state, 
that  the  short  compass  of  a  sermon  is  inadequate  to  the  full 
developement  of  the  principle  and  its  consequences.  The 
author,  therefore,  confined  himself  to  those  objections  which 
lie  most  level  to  every  apprehension,  and  can  be  most  readily 
understood  and  felt  by  every  serious  Christian. 

JOHX  S.  EAYENSCEOFT. 

Ealeigh,  Dec.  24,  1824. 


A   SERMON, 

BEFORE  THE  BIBLE  SOCIETY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

Acts  vni.  30,  31. 

"And  Philip  ran  thither  to  him,  and  heard  him  read  the  Prophet  Esaias; 
and  said,  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest?  And  he  said,  How  can  I, 
except  some  man  should  guide  me?" 

The  circumstances  which  precede  and  follow  the  relation 
of  this  fact,  in  the  history  of  our  religion,  for  the  details  of 
which  I  refer  you  to  the  chapter  itself,  point  out  the  connex- 
ion of  my  text  with  the  more  special  purpose  of  this  day. 

Favored  as  we  are,  ray  brethren  and  hearers,  with  the 
word  of  life,  with  those  "Scriptures  which  are  able  to  make 
us  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  it  would  be  a  libel  on  our  Christian  name,  were 
neither  wish  or  effort  manifested,  to  supply  the  manna  of 
souls  to  the  needy  and  the  destitute.  From  this  reproach, 
however,  the  Christian  community  has  long  been  released; 
and,  as  if  to  atone  for  former  remissness,  seems  now  to  be 
absorbed,  as  it  were,  in  the  one  object  of  disseminating  the 
Scriptures  "to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people  under  heaven."  And  what  heart  that  circulates 
Christian  blood,  but  must  prompt  both  to  approve  and  to  aid 
a  purpose  so  divine?  What  Christian,  who  has  himself 
"tasted  of  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the  world 
to  come,"  but  must  wish  and  pray,  and,  if  consistent,  strive 
to  promote  that  blessed  and  promised  period,  "when  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters 
cover  the  great  deep." 

That  a  purpose  so  glorious — a  plan  so  beneficent — should 
have  captivated  the  public  mind,  and  rushed  forward  to  its 
accomplishment,  with  an  impetus  which  left  far  behind  those 
more  sober  considerations,  which  alone  can  give  effect  and 
permanence  to  the  good  intended,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
my  hearers;  for  it  is  the  very  nature  of  high  wrought  i)uljlic 
feeling  to  outstrip  reflection — it  is  of  the  essence  of  general 


156  A   SEEMON   BEFOEE   THE   BIBLE   SOCIETY 

as  well  as  personal  enthusiasm,  that  it  cannot  be  trammelled 
with  details.  Of  the  Bible  cause,  therefore,  it  may  be  said, 
as  was  happily  said  of  a  similar  excitement,  (that  which  pro- 
duced the  crusades  for  the  recovery  of  the  holy  land,)  "a 
nerve  was  touched  of  exquisite  feeling,  and  it  vibrated  to  the 
heart  of  Christendom."  Nor  yet  is  it  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  the  same  cause  should  have  produced  a  like  oversight 
of  those  precautions,  which  are  indispensable  to  the  success 
of  every  moral  efibrt. 

But  it  is  not  to  excitement  alone,  that  we  are  to  ascribe 
the  adoption  of  what  is  here  considered  an  error,  in  the 
original  principle  of  the  most  extensive  Bible  Society  in  the 
world,  and  recognized  by  the  one  I  am  now  addressing,  in 
the  second  article  of  its  Constitution.  To  the  unhappy  di- 
visions in  the  Christian  world  must  we,  in  great  part,  attribute 
the  currency — I  had  almost  said,  the  consecration, — of  the 
dogma,  "that  the  distribution  of  the  Bible,  without  note  or 
comment,  is  the  only  just  principle  on  which  to  disseminate 
the  Scriptures  of  our  faith." 

This  specious  position,  while  it  seemed  to  give  to  the  word 
of  God  that  pre-eminence  which  it  challenges,  as  exclusively 
saving  truth,  and  to  leave,  also,  exclusively  to  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  inspired  them,  the  effect  to  be  produced  on  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  those  to  whom  it  was  sent,  presented  to 
Christians  of  every  denomination,  one  point,  where  they 
could  all  meet.  And  as  it  recognized,  what  is  considered, 
the  leading  Protestant  principle,  "that  the  Bible  is  the  re- 
ligion of  Protestants,"  less  consideration  than  it  deserved 
was  given  to  the  principle  itself.  Great  and  good  men  of 
every  persuasion,  sick  of  the  dissensions  which  deform  the 
fair  face  of  Christianity,  were  glad  to  find  one  object,  in  the 
forwarding  of  which  all  could  cordially  unite — which  promised 
the  extension  of  blessings  beyond  all  price — and  in  the  mag- 
nificent issue  of  an  evangelized  world,  held  out  the  fulfilment 
of  their  daily  prayer,  "thy  kingdom  come." 

Under  the  influence  of  such  feelings,  the  Bible  itself  was 
overlooked,  in  the  clear  directions  v/hich  may  be  drawn  from 
it,  as  to  the  only  safe  and  effectual  manner  of  disseminating 
its  saving  knowledge:  and  a  mark  of  reproach  was  fastened 
upon  all  who  ventured  to  call  in  question  the  soundness  of 


OF   NOETH   CAKOLIffA.  157 

the  favorite  notion.  Their  sentiments  are  held  in  contempt, 
as  narrow  and  bigoted.  Their  authorities  and  argmuents  are 
met,  not  bj  reason  and  Scripture,  but  by  splendid  details  of 
Bible  society  extensions — by  gorgeous  declamation  of  Heathen 
nations  furnished  with  the  bread  of  lite — and  by  overwlielm- 
ing  catalogues  of  the  names  enlisted,  and  the  millions  dis- 
bursed, for  this  despotic  favorite. 

Yet,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  the  march  of  truth,  though 
slow,  is  sure,  and  her  victory  certain.  Examination  of  the 
subject  has  given  a  juster  direction  to  the  minds  of  many; 
and,  though  they  cannot  equal  the  numbers  of  those  who 
follow  the  direction  of  the  first  impetus,  they  are  sensible  of 
a  progressive  accession  of  strength,  and  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  that  j^eriod,  when  principles,  equally  impreg- 
nable with  revelation  itself,  will  be  owned  and  acted  upon; 
and  to  this  they  look  with  the  greater  confidence,  because, 
though  inconsiderately  and  injudiciously  charged  with  being 
opposed  to  the  spread  of  the  Scriptures,  the}^  yield  to  none 
in  the  sincere  desire  and  earnest  endeavor  to  place  in  every 
hand,  and  instill  into  every  heart  in  this  sin-struck  world, 
"the  saving  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  Jesus  Chkist,  whom 
he  hath  sent." 

In  these  prefatory  remarks — very  different,  perhaps,  from 
what  you  have  heretofore  been  accustomed  to  on  such  an  oc- 
casion— my  object  is,  to  present  the  subject  to  your  thoughts 
in  a  connexion  in  which  you  have  not  been  taught  to  view 
it.  My  wish  and  intention  is,  to  lead  you  to  the  serious 
consideration  of  the  purpose  for  which  you  are  associated, 
for  which  your  affections  are  enlisted,  and  your  contributions 
expected;  to  compare  the  declared  principle  of  your  opera- 
tions, with  the  instrument  jon  have  undertaken  to  wield;  to 
estimate  the  means  used,  in  connexion  with  the  end  pro- 
posed; and  by  the  result  of  such  an  examination,  to  place 
your  feelings  under  the  control  of  your  understandings,  as 
the  only  safe  principle  of  moral  conduct. 

I  might,  indeed,  my  hearers,  have  taken  the  beaten  track, 
with  more  ease  to  myself,  and  perhaps  with  greater  satisfac- 
tion to  many  of  you.  It  presents  a  wide  field  for  affecting- 
declamation,  a  plenteous  magazine  of  facts  and  figures  to 
work  upon  the  feelings — yea,  a  well  furnished  store  house, 


158  A   SERMON   BEFOEE   THE   BIBLE   SOCIETY 

from  which  to  draw  materials  to  confirm  the  prejudices  of 
an  erroneous  judgment.  But  such  is  not  mj  office — such  is 
not  the  purpose  wherefore  I  am  "separated  unto  the  gospel 
of  God."  a  higher  tribunal  will  pass  upon  the  faithfulness 
of  tliis  da}^,  both  to  you  and  to  me.  Under  a  j^resent  sense, 
then,  of  the  awful  account  we  have  mutually  to  give  in,  let 
us  now  speak  and  hear. 

"And  Philip  ran  thither  to  him,  and  heard  him  read  the 
prophet  Esaias,  and  said,  Understandest  thou  what  thou 
readest?  And  he  said,  How  can  I,  except  some  man  should 
guide  me." 

From  these  words  I  propose  to  show,  that  the  principle 
recognized  and  acted  upon,  by  this  and  other  Bible  Societies, 
"that  tlie  Scriptures  are  exclusively  sufficient  for  their  own 
interpretation,"  is  unfounded  and  dangerous,  and,  ultimately, 
subversive  of  all  revealed  religion. 

I.  First,  from  the  structure  of  the  Scriptures  themselves. 

The  purpose  of  revelation  being  to  bring  to  our  knowledge 
things  divine  and  spiritual,  and  which  otherwise  are  entirely 
out  of  our  reach,  the  language  made  use  of  must  be  appro- 
priate to  the  subject  matter  of  the  communication,  and  to 
our  capacity  of  apprehension.  And  since  there  is  an  infinite 
disproportion  between  the  things  themselves  and  the  caj^a- 
city  of  men,  the  use  of  figure  or  metaphor  is  resorted  to,  to 
convey  this  knowledge.  Under  the  letter  of  Scripture,  there- 
fore, is  couched  that  spiritual  meaning  and  application,  which 
constitutes  their  value  and  importance  to  us  as  saving  truth. 
Hence  we  find,  that  while  the  perceptive  parts  of  revelation 
are  plain  and  perspicuous,  so  as  to  be  immediately  appre- 
hended, those  which  are  doctrinal  partake  of  different  degrees 
of  clearness,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  doctrine  incul- 
cated; and  those  which  are  mysterious,  are  clothed,  in  an  ob- 
scurity which  even  "the  angels  desire  to  look  into."  Yet  they 
are  all  made  the  subject  matter  of  our  faith  and  obedience, 
my  hearers,  and  operative,  according  to  our  diligence,  in  pre- 
paring us  for  still  higher  and  brighter  spiritual  attainments. 

Unless,  therefore,  it  can  be  made  out,  that  the  mysterious 
and  obscure  parts  of  revelation  can  be  safely  and  truly  inter- 
preted by  those  which  are  clear,  (for  that  is  the  amount  of 
the  principle  acted  upon  as  fundamental,  by  the  Bible  Socie- 


OF  NORTH   CAEOLmA.  159 

ties  in  question,)  the  very  structure  of  tlie  Scriptures  shows 
the  fallacy  of  the  proposition. 

On  this  point,  which  is  of  great  importance  to  a  just  view 
of  the  subject,  and,  I  presume,  new  to  many  of  you,  the  ob- 
servations of  a  prelate  of  high  character  for  ability  and  piety, 
are  so  clear  and  convincing,  that  I  shall  lay  them  before  you 
in  his  own  words: 

"The  principle  (says  the  writer)  of  explaining  those  parts 
of  Iioly  Scripture  which  appear  more  obscure,  by  those  which 
are  manifest  and  clear,  involves  a  very  serious  inconvenience. 
It  is  obvious  that,  in  the  sacred  word,  different  degrees  of 
clearness  and  obscurity  can  have  arisen  only  from  the  vari- 
ous nature  of  the  subject  matter.  In  promulgating  a  design 
so  vast,  comprehensive  and  profound,  as  the  design  of  Chris- 
tianity, what  St.  Paul  terms  "the  deep  things  of  God"  must 
frequently  come  into  view.  In  every  enunciation  of  these 
great  mysteries,  an  awful  obscurity  must  unquestionably 
overhang  the  subject;  still,  however,  all  the  instances  may 
not  be  equally  inaccessible:  some  may  reward  research,  though 
others  may  baffle  investigation.  But  if  passages  of  obvious 
plainness  are  to  limit  the  import  of  profounder  passages,  it 
is  manifest  that  all  profounder  passages  must  be  at  least  com- 
paratively, and  in  many  cases  totally,  neglected.  On  the 
assumption  that  the  profounder  and  the  plainer  language  re- 
fer to  the  same  subject,  and  express  the  same,  or  nearly  the 
same  idea,  it  would  be  difficult,  perhaps,  to  defend  the  wis- 
dom, and  sometimes  even  the  humanity  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  indited  the  Scriptures;  for  why  employ  dark  and  doubt- 
ful sayings  where  obvious  and  familiar  sayings  would  have 
answered  every  reasonable  purpose?  But  the  fact  is  far  other- 
wise. Simple  truths  are  simply  expressed,  majestic  truths 
are  clothed  in  appropriate  majesty  of  language,  and  mysteri- 
ous truths  are  invested  with  that  sacred  veil  which  they  alone 
may  venture  to  penetrate  who  are  at  once  illuminated  by 
Christian  grace,  animated  by  Christian  love,  and  regulated 
by  Christian  humility.  Such  spirits  are  invited,  and  expect- 
ed, to  search  out  the  wonders  of  God's  word,  no  less  than  tiie 
works  of  his  creation.  But  what  an  obstacle  will  be  opposed 
to  their  researches,  what  a  bar  to  their  spiritual  improve- 
ment, if  the  highest  truths  are  to  be  measured  by  the  lowest 


160  A   SERMON   BEFOEE   THE   BIBLE   SOCIETY 

Standard!  If  the  depths  are  to  be  sounded  with  a  plummet, 
which  can  scarcely  reach  the  bottom  of  the  shallows!"  "But 
a  still  more  serious  consequence  may  be  dreaded.  The 
clearer  passages  of  Scripture  will,  in  general,  be  those  which 
recognize  principles  deducible  from  nature  and  providence; 
and,  by  parity  of  reason,  the  obscurer  passages  will  com- 
monly be  those  in  which  pure  matter  of  revelation  is  pro- 
mulgated. If,  therefore,  it  be  adopted  as  the  leading  prin- 
ciple of  interpretation,  that  the  sense  of  this  latter  class  of 
passages  should  be  limited  or  settled  by  the  sense  of  the 
former  class,  it  may  be  reckoned  upon,  that  through  the  con- 
tinual application  of  this  rule  the  appropriate  and  peculiar 
truths  of  revelation  will  gradually  be  absorbed  in  mere  natu- 
ral verities."  "The  question  may  now  be  asked,  have  not 
these  consequences  been  actually  realized?  Is  it  not  but  too 
certain,  that  a  diminishing  scale  of  interpretation  detracts 
from  the  fullness  of  Christian  belief;  and  that  where  the  less 
appropriate  and  peculiar  parts  of  revelation  are  made  the 
limits  of  all  the  rest,  the  system  commonly  terminates  in 
Socinianism;  perhaps  in  something,  if  jjossible,  more  re- 
moved from  the  semblance  of  Christianity?" 

Thus  writes  the  present  Bishop  of  Limerick,  not  on  the 
subject  of  Bible  Societies,  but  ujDon  the  principle  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  British  from  the  reformed  continental  Churches; 
and  it  is  for  the  observation  and  experience  of  those  who  now 
hear  me,  to  apply  the  reasoning,  and  to  consider  whether 
similar  effects  are  not  following  to  us,  and  whether,  upon  the 
whole,  the  reverence  due  to  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God,  is 
not  declining,  under  the  operation  of  this  unwise  and  un- 
warranted assumption? 

But  it  may  be  said,  since  the  canon  of  Scripture  is  com- 
plete, and  admitted  by  all  to  be  in  itself  sufficient  for  every 
Christian  purpose,  what  more  can  be  needed?  To  this  it  is 
replied  by  a  Christian  father  of  the  fifth  century,  "That,  from 
the  very  depth  of  holy  Scripture,  all  men  cannot  receive  it 
in  one  and  the  same  sense.  One  person  interprets  the  divine 
oracle  in  one  manner;  another  person  in  a  manner  totally 
different;  insomuch,  that  from  the  same  source,  almost  as 
many  opinions  may  be  elicited  as  there  are  men.  Therefore, 
amidst  so  great  perplexity  of  such  various  error,  it  is  ex- 


OF   NOETH   CAEOLINA.  161 

iremelj  necessary  that  the  line  of  prophetic  and  apostolic 
interpretation  be  regulated  by  the  standard  of  ecclesiastical 
and  catholic  judgment." 

To  close  this  head  of  my  discourse,  I  would  observe,  that 
if  the  foregoing  arguments  needed  any  confirmation,  it  is  to 
be  found  in  the  order  pursued  by  the  Divine  Wisdom  in 
making  known  his  will  to  his  creatures.  Under  each  dis- 
pensation of  his  grace,  the  revelation  made  has  been  accom- 
panied by  authorized  and  accredited  interpreters  and  admin- 
istrators of  spiritual  tilings.  In  no  case  is  the  word  of  God 
disjoined  from  the  Church  of  God — tlie  grace  of  God  from 
the  sacraments  of  the  Church — and  the  end  proposed  and 
promised,  separated  from  the  means  provided  and  command- 
ed. All  of  which  the  present  system  keeps  entirely  out  of 
view;  and  is,  therefore,  so  far,  at  variance  with  the  wisdom 
of  God. 

II,  Secondly,  the  fallacy  of  the  principle  will  be  further 
evidenced  by  the  condition  of  man  as  a  fallen  creature. 

As  such,  his  tendency  has  uniformly  been  to  corrupt  reve- 
lation— to  bring  it  down  to  his  own  unholy  standard.  "The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 
With  difl&culty  does  he  retain  them  even  when  received,  and 
slowly  do  they  grow  and  increase,  under  the  most  diligent 
instruction.  What,  then,  are  we  reasonably  to  expect  when 
he  is  deprived  of  these  advantages,  and  thrown  back  upon 
himself,  to  search  out  the  mystery  of  godliness  from  the  un- 
aided word?  What  must  be  the  result,  but  either  total  ne- 
glect, or  as  many  and  various  systems  of  belief,  as  there  are 
varieties  of  mental  capacity? 

Unless,  therefore,  it  can  be  shown  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
perfect  indifference  what  system  of  religious  opinions  we 
draw  from  the  Scriptures;  and  that  we  are  equally  safe,  as 
regards  another  life,  under  an  erroneous,  as  under  a  true  in- 
terpretation of  the  word  of  life;  the  condition  of  man  as  a 
fallen  creature,  in  connexion  with  the  structure  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  yet  further  in  opposition  to  the  principle  in  question. 
For,  as  the  apostle  tells  us,  there  is  but  "one  faith,"  or  sys- 
tem of  saving  truth,  to  all  Christians;  and  when  we  further 
consider,  that  to  man  religion  is  a  forced  state,  that  is,  not 
his  natural  state,  the  calculation  is  very  wild,  that  he  will 
[Vol.  1,— *ll.] 


162  A   SERMON  BEFOEE  THE   BIBLE   SOCIETY 

seek  and  find  it  in  the  naked  knowledge  of  the  facts  and 
doctrines  of  the  Scriptures.     But, 

III,  Thirdly,  from  tlie  agency  of  the  Holy  Spieit  in  giving 
effect  to  the  word  of  God,  the  principle  under  consideration 
is  shown  to  be  erroneous,  dangerous,  and  eventually  destruc- 
tive of  all  revealed  relig-ion. 

No  doctrine  of  Christianity  is  more  fiirmly  established, 
than  that  of  the  exclusive  necessity  of  spiritual  illumination 
to  a  right  understanding  and  application  of  the  Scriptures; 
and  it  is  equally  sure  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  to  lead 
us  into  all  needful  truth.  Is  it  thence  to  be  assumed,  how- 
ever, that  the  simple  volume  is  necessarily  accompanied  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  every  impression  made  on  the 
mind  of  the  reader  of  that  volume,  is  "the  witness  of  the 
Spirit"  to  the  truth  and  certainty  of  the  interpretation  he 
comes  to?  Have  we  any  warrant,  from  what  is  revealed  to 
us  of  the  connexion  of  spiritual  influence  with  the  written 
word  of  God,  to  believe  that  such  is  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  upon  uninspired  men?  Yet  such  is  unavoidably  the 
extent  to  which  the  favorite  principle  of  this  and  other  Bible 
Societies  carries  the  essential  doctrine  of  Spiritual  influence. 

According  to  the  principle,  the  Bible  is  to  be  exclusively 
interpreted  from  itself:  according  to  the  doctrine  of  tlie  Scrip- 
tures, no  saving  knowledge  and  application  of  divine  truth 
can  be  had,  but  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It 
therefore  follows,  if  the  principle  be  true,  that  the  effect  pro- 
duced through  the  word  of  God  read,  must  be  received  aa 
the  immediate  dictate  of  the  Spirit  by  the  person  under  its 
influence,  and,  indeed,  by  all  others. 

This,  it  appears  to  me,  is  the  unavoidable  conclusion,  as- 
suming the  principle  to  be  well  founded.  Whether  it  is  in- 
tended to  be  carried  this  far,  may  reasonably  be  doubted; 
but  whetlier  intended  or  not,  an  awful  responsibility  is  in- 
curred, by  sanctioning  so  dangerous  a  position,  on  a  subject 
of  such  vital  interest,  by  such  an  imposing  weight  of  charac- 
ter as  Europe  and  America  have  leagued  in  its  favor. 

With  whatever  intention,  however,  a  more  erroneous  no- 
tion could  not  be  suggested;  for  it  goes  the  whole  length  of 
making  every  man's  private  imagination  the  test  to  him  of 
saving  truth,  and  sanctions  the  destructive,  but  prevailing. 


OF  NORTH   CAROLINA.  163 

notion,  that  the  discordant  and  opposite  views  of  Christian 
faith  and  practice  Avhich  deform  the  gospel,  have  all  alike 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  of  God  that  they  are  the  truths  of 
God,  and  equally  to  be  relied  upon  for  salvation.  But  is 
such  the  doctrine  of  the  religion  we  profess?  Is  the  hope 
given  to  man,  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  built  upon 
so  sandy  a  foundation?  Are  its  fundamental  doctrines,  wise 
directions,  and  bright  examples,  of  so  vague  and  indetermi- 
nate a  character  as  to  give  countenance  to  so  broad  a  delu- 
sion? I  ask  Christian  men — I  ask  men  who  stand  forward 
as  Christian  teachers — I  ask  men  who  say  they  reverence  the 
Bible,  and  wish  to  present  it  as  the  best  of  all  gifts  to  their 
fellow-men;  and  I  beseech  them  to  meet  the  question,  not 
under  the  influence  of  assaulted  feeling — not  under  the  cal- 
culation of  party  interests — but  under  the  solemn  influence 
of  that  account  which  we  must  all  give  in  to  God:  in  parti- 
cular, I  intreat  those  who  are  capable  of  embracing  the  ar- 
gument in  its  extent — who  are  competent  to  try  its  tputh  and 
soundness — to  reflect,  that  they  owe  to  others,  not  so  gifted, 
the  benefit  of  their  counsel  and  examj^le;  and  that,  however 
popular  an  error  may  be,  it  is  not,  therefore,  the  less,  but  the 
more,  injurious,  and  demands  the  united  efibrts  of  the  wise 
and  good  to  counteract  its  eflects.  In  the  case  before  us,  it 
appears  to  your  preacher,  that  the  best  interests  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion  are  at  stake — that  they  are  compromised 
on  grounds  most  ditiicult  to  meet,  because  ostensibly  fortified 
with  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Yet 
there  is  a  zeal  without  knowledge,  which  is  to  be  guarded 
against,  and  the  surest  guard  must  forever  be  a  close  adhe- 
rence to  that  system  of  divine  truth,  and  prescribed  minis- 
trations, which  God  hath  indissolubly  joined  together,  for  the 
assurance  of  faith  to  man  in  the  hope  of  the  gospel. 

Under  the  influence  of  this  principle,  I  have  taken  the 
view  of  the  subject  now  submitted,  conscious  that  I  throw 
myself  in  the  face  of  high  authority,  of  strong  prejudice,  and 
inconsiderate  feeling.  But  what  then?  If  this  is  never  to  be 
done,  where  is  the  stopping  place  for  error  to  be  found?  And 
if  the  ministers  of  the  sanctuary  shrink  from  this  duty,  who 
else  shall  stand  in  the  gap?  On  this,  and  on  all  other  points, 
I  hold  and  act  upon  the  principle,  that  the  temperate  arraign- 


164:  A   SERMON   BEFOEE   THE   BIBLE   SOCIETY 

ment  of  what  we  believe  to  be  error  at  the  bar  of  public  opin- 
ion, is  the  truest  friendship  to  those  who  entertain  the  error, 
and  the  only  lawful  means  of  defeating  its  influence.  I  speak 
not  a  word  this  day,  my  hearers,  against  the  free  and  full 
distribution  of  the  word  of  God.  No,  God  forbid!  I  speak 
only  against  an  unfounded  and  dangerous  principle,  which 
Bible  Societies  have  adopted  and  consecrated,  and  declared 
unalterable,  in  the  articles  of  their  constitutiou.  I  speak  not 
a  word  to  repress  your  zeal  and  liberality  in  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion; but,  according  to  my  poor  ability,  to  give  to  that  zeal 
a  right  direction,  and  to  make  that  liberality  fruitful  and 
lasting  in  its  effects;  to  preserve  it  from  evaporating  in  hypo- 
thetical good;  and  to  return  it  back  into  your  own  bosoms 
tenfold,  in  the  happy  fruits  of  sound  knowledge  and  pure  re- 
ligion, instilled  and  established  in  your  own  hearts,  in  the 
hearts  of  your  children,  your  neighbors,  your  countrymen, 
and  the  world.  This  must  all  be  done  from  the  Bible.  It  is 
our  only  warrant — it  is  our  only  weapon.  The  Bible  is  alone 
sufficient  to  heal  the  divisions  among  Christians;  but  this 
surely  never  can  come  to  pass,  under  the  operation  of  a  prin- 
ciple which  sanctions  division  without  limit,  and  consequent- 
ly ends  in  the  subversion  of  all  revealed  religion.  Nor  can 
it  be  brought  to  pass,  by  carelessly  casting  out  a  dollar,  or 
an  hundred  or  a  thousand  of  dollars,  to  aid  in  printing  and  cir- 
culating the  Scriptures.  No:  to  obtain  this  blessed  end,  the 
Bible  must  be  imprinted  upon  our  own  hearts,  and  reprinted 
in  our  lives — its  tj-pes  must  be  set  in  the  hearts  of  our  chil- 
dren, and  the  same  impression  struck  off,  in  each  succeeding 
generation.  There  is  no  new  version,  no  new  edition,  of  the 
spirit  of  religion — "it  is  the  same,  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for 
ever;"  and  thus  must  its  triumphs  extend,  from  families  to 
kindred,  to  country,  to  the  universe.  It  is  the  order  which 
God,  "the  only  wise  God,"  hath  appointed;  which  he  hath 
promised  to  bless:  it  is  the  order  of  all  other  events,  under 
the  control  of  his  providence:  and  only  by  conforming  there- 
to, can  we  entertain  a  reasonable  hope  of  success.  Let  us 
not,  then,  depart  from  it,  in  the  great  concern  of  our  own 
souls,  and  the  souls  of  others,  however  specious  the  theory 
may  seem.  Let  our  liberality  in  the  things  of  God  be  regu- 
lated by  the  terms  of  that  trust-deed,  whereby  they  are  com- 


OF  NOKTH   CAKOLINA.  165 

mitted  to  our  stewardship;  and  our  sense  of  its  true  meaning 
and  interpretation  be  guided  and  directed  by  the  universal 
consent  of  that  body  of  holy  men,  who  heard  with  their  own 
ears  the  exposition  of  those  to  whom  were  committed  the 
words  of  eternal  life,  by  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church.  Then 
shall  the  Bible,  indeed,  speak  "the  mind  of  the  Spirit"  and 
the  gospel  be  found  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth." 

In  conclusion,  I  recur  to  my  text.  It  has  been  kept  out  of 
view — but  not,  I  trust,  out  of  remembrance — by  the  course 
of  the  argument.  Its  application,  however,  cannot  be  mis- 
taken. 

"Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest?"  This  is  a  ques- 
tion, m}'  friends,  which  enters  into  the  very  essence  of  spirit- 
ual attainment  from  the  Scriptures.  Religion  is,  throughout, 
a  reasonable  service.  Nothing  connected  with  its  hope,  and 
its  comfort,  its  assurance  and  its  reward,  is  divested  of  this 
distinguishing  feature.  JSTor  can  these  rightly  be  claimed  or 
entertained,  without  rendering  a  reason  for  them. 

Suppose  the  Scriptures  in  the  hands  of  one,  of  whom,  to  our 
shame  as  a  Christian  nation  be  it  spoken,  we  have  multitudes. 
He  can  read,  perhaps;  yet  with  such  incoherence,  that  atten- 
tion is  absorbed  in  mastering  letters  and  syllables.  AVhatto 
hiiu  is  the  word  of  life?  It  is  a  task  book — a  work  of  labor 
— which,  after  a  few  efforts,  he  abandons.  Suppose  this 
done  away — that  he  reads  fluently,  yet  without  intellectual 
cultivation:  what  can  he  gatlier,  beyond  the  law  written  in 
his  own  and  every  other  heart  by  the  finger  of  God,  except 
a  mass  of  vague  and  undigested  notions,  equally  at  war  with 
reason  and  religion?  "Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest?" 
must  ever  bring  from  him,  if  he  is  an  honest  inquirer  after 
truth,  the  answer  of  the  Ethiopian — "How  can  I,  except 
some  man  siiould  guide  me?"  My  Christian  hearers,  I  think 
I  have  but  to  appeal  to  your  own  experience  on  this  subject. 
With  all  your  advantages,  understand  you  what  you  read,  in 
your  daily  application  to  tiie  Scriptures?  Are  there  no 
depths  wljich  you  cannot  fathom — no  mysteries  which  you 
cannot  penetrate — no  connexions  which  you  cannot  make 
out?  How,  then,  are  those  into  whose  hands  they  fall,  in 
fact,  as  a  revelation;  and  who  are  refused  all  guidance,  but 


166  A   SERMON   BEFORE   THE   BIBLE   SOCIETY,   &C. 

from  the  word  itself — how  are  they  to  compass  what  is  at- 
tainable "of  the  length,  and  breadth,  and  depth,  and  height,  of 
God's  rich  redeeming  love;"  and  trace  the  connexion  and  de- 
pendence of  prophecy,  promise,  and  fulfilment,  as  bound  up 
with  the  hope  of  man;  and  in  this  boundless  field  of  heaven's 
mercy,  find  "the  strait  and  narrow  way  which  leadeth  unto 
life?"  Does  heaven  warn  us  needlessly  "that  few  there  be 
which  find  it?"  Are  there  no  parallel  paths  marked  out  by 
the  invention  of  men,  which  an  uninstructed  traveller  may 
mistake  for  the  King's  high-way — the  royal  road,  trodden  by 
the  King  of  kings  himself,  in  faith  and  obedience,  and  marked 
with  tlie  assurance  of  a  verifiable  signature?  Are  there 
no  cross  roads  and  intricate  divergencies,  all  professing  to 
point  to  the  City  of  Refuge,  which  are,  nevertheless,  un- 
marked and  unverifiable,  unless  by  a  counterfeit  signature; 
and,  though  much  trodden,  are  yet,  comparatively,  but  newly 
opened?  Is  there  no  need  of  a  pilot — an  instructer,  a  guide, 
through  this  labyrinth?  Are  we  to  turn  loose  the  ignorant 
in  Christian  lands,  and  the  Heathen  in  Pagan  lands,  to 
wander  unguided  through  the  mysteries  of  revelation — op- 
pressed by  its  discoveries — uncomforted  by  its  ministrations 
— and  deprived  of  those  authorized  guides  and  interpreters 
of  his  word,  whom  God  hath  bound  to  faithfulness  at  the 
peril  of  their  own  souls?  No,  my  Christian-  brethren,  let  us 
hear  them  calling  unto  us  in  the  words  of  the  Ethiopian  in 
my  text — '"How  can  I,  except  some  man  should  guide  me?'' 
and,  with  the  word  of  God,  send  them  the  Church,  and  the 
ministers,  and  the,  sacraments  of  God.  Then  shall  the  end 
and  the  means  correspond,  and  the  ravishing  spectacle  be 
presented  to  an  admiring  and  adoring  universe,  of  a  redeemed 
world,  furnished  with  the  light  of  life,  and  made  wise  unto 
salvation,  with  one  heart  and  one  mouth  ascribing  "glory, 
honor,  and  dominion,  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne, 
and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever," 


A   SERMON 

ON  THE  STUDY  AND  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 


John  t.  39. 
"Search  the  Scriptures." 


Much,  ray  brethren,  depends  upon  the  importance  we  at- 
tach to  the  Bible,  and  the  unqualified  dependence  we  place 
in  it,  as  the  infallible  word  of  God.  Much  also  depends  upon 
the  disposition  with  which,  and  the  manner  in  which,  we 
consult  the  divine  oracles,  to  draw  from  them  that  "know- 
ledo^e  which  is  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation."  That 
they  are  the  well  spring  of  life  and  hope  to  fallen  man,  and 
the  infallible  rule  of  his  faith  and  practice  to  every  Christian, 
is  assented  to  by  all.  Yet  that  the  Scriptures  are  so  framed, 
that  we  ma}'-  pervert  them  to  support  and  defend  almost  any 
preconceived  system  of  doctrine,  is  equally  evident,  from  the 
actual  condition  of  the  Christian  world.  Hence  the  great 
importance  of  sound  and  correct  views  of  divine  truth,  and 
of  such  information  as  shall  render  the  duty  enjoined  in  my 
text  both  pleasant  and  profitable,  and  guard  you  against  the 
awful  ruin  of  building  your  hope  for  hereafter  upon  perverted 
Scripture.  And  hence  my  duty,  rendered  more  imperious 
by  recent  circumstances,  to  take  up  this  subject  for  your  edi- 
fication, and,  as  I  humbly  trust,  for  the  edification  of  many, 
on  a  subject  of  vital  interest  to  all,  embarrassed  by  many 
specious,  but  fatal  errors. 

I  sliall  therefore,  in  the 

First  place,  lay  before  yon  some  observations  calculated 
to  direct  you  to  a  safe  and  satisfactory  compliance  v/ith  the 
Christian  duty  of  searching  the  Scriptures. 

Secondly,  I  shall  endeavor  to  obviate  some  prevailing  and 
pojular  errore  on  this  fundamental  subject.     And  then 

Conclude  with  some  plain  and  practical  inferences  from 
the  whole.  And  may  the  Spirit  of  truth  preside  over  my 
meditations;  and  your  attention. 

"Search  the  Scriptures." 


168  ON  THE  STUDY  Aim 

I.  First,  I  am  to  lay  before  you  some  observations,  calcis- 
lated  to  direct  yon  to  a  safe  and  satisfactory  compliance  with 
the  Christian  duty  of  searching  the  Scriptures. 

1.  As  the  Scriptures  to  which  our  blessed  Lord-  referred^ 
in  giving  this  direction  to  those  to  whom  the  words  were 
spoken,  were  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament — that  tes- 
timony of  Jesus,  which  God  was  pleased  to  commit  to  the 
keeping  of  the  Old  Testament  Church; — we  are  fully  war- 
ranted in  asserting  the  identity  of  the  two  dispensations,  and 
in  considering  the  New  Testament  as  perfective  of  the  old. 
This  is  a  point  of  great  importance,  my  brethren,  to  any  ra- 
tional fulfilment  of  the  duty  enjoined  in  the  text;  inasmuch 
as  by  separating  the  two  dispensations,  we  neutralize  bothy 
and  expose  ourselves  to  every  variety  of  deception  which  in- 
terested ingenuity  can  draw  from  a  partial  view  of  divine 
truth.  To  search  the  Scriptures,  therefore,  to  any  profitable 
purpose,  we  must  begin  with  the  foundation,  and  regularly 
go  on  to  the  finishing  of  the  superstructure;  and  "comparing 
spiritual  things  with  spiritual" — that  is,  a  recorded  purpose 
with  its  exact  fulfilment — obtain  that  full  conviction  of  the 
infallible  truth  and  divine  authority  of  revelation,  which  is 
indispensable  to  any  thing  worthy  the  name  of  rational  assu- 
rance, in  working  out  our  everlasting  salvation.  For,  as  no- 
thing can  induce  us  to  commence  this  work  but  the  full  per- 
suasion, drawn  from  God's  public  message  to  the  world  by 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  God  invites  and  commands  us  to 
it;  so  nothing  can  encourage  to  perseverence,  amid  the  trials 
and  disappointments  of  our  condition,  but  an  equally  fixed 
reliance  on  the  promised  guidance  and  help  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  From  first  to  last,  my  brethren,  "we  walk  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight."  And  faith,  to  deserve  the  name,  and  be- 
come a  foundation  for  eternity,  must,  in  its  commencement, 
and  throughout  its  whole  progress,  rest  upon  a  divine  and 
verifiable  warrant — "Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

2.  To  search  the  Scriptures,  however,  does  not  mean  sim- 
ply to  read  them,  and  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  facts  and 
doctrines  therein  contained.  Hundreds  have  done,  and  yet 
are  doing  this,  without  profit.  The  duty  enjoined  and  under 
consideration,  involves  the  careful  examination  and  compar- 
ison, not  only  of  the  several  parts  with  each  other,  but  of 


INTEEPKETATION   OF   THE   SCKIPTURES.  169 

each  part  with  the  whole.  This  is  evident,  not  only  from  the 
reason  of  the  thing,  and  the  general  purpose  of  revelation, 
but  also  from  the  particular  circumstances  under  which  the 
words  were  spoken.  The  unbelieving  Jews,  having  rejected 
the  evidence  of  John  the  Baptist  to  the  person  and  office  of 
Jesus  as  the  promised  Messiah,  and  resisted  the  testimony 
of  our  Lord's  own  miraculous  power  in  attestation  of  the 
same  fact,  are  by  him  referred  to  their  Scriptures.  "Search 
the  Scriptures,"  said  he;  "for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eter- 
nal life,  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  In  which 
reference  to  the  Scriptures,  it  must  be  clear  that  our  Lord 
meant  such  a  careful  consideration  and  comparison  of  what 
was  foretold  by  the  prophets  concerning  the  Messiah,  with 
the  events  then  fulfilling  before  their  eyes,  as  must  be  suffi- 
cient for  correcting  their  erroneous  prejudices,  and  for  pro- 
ducino;  a  rational  conviction  of  the  truth.  Li  like  manner, 
my  hearers,  must  we  lay  aside  our  prejudices,  and  with  sin- 
cere and  ready  minds  desire  the  whole  truth,  if  we  would 
search  the  Scriptures  to  advantage,  and  draw  from  them  the 
bread  of  life. 

3.  Another  consideration,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  of  the 
last  importance  to  a  safe  and  profitable  fulfilment  of  this  duty, 
is  a  just  view  of  the  unity  of  Scripture — that  is,  of  the  con- 
nexion and  dependence  of  all  the  parts  with  and  upon  each 
other,  and  of  the  end  and  design  of  the  communication,  as  a 
whole.  Of  this  unity,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting,  that 
it  is  as  complete  as  that  of  its  glorious  Author.  "The  Scrip- 
ture cannot  be  broken,"  says  our  blessed  Lord,  It  cannot 
be  taken  to  pieces,  and  made  to  subserve  systems  of  conflict- 
ing doctrine  and  practice  in  the  religious  world.  This  must 
be  evident  to  the  slightest  reflection,  from  its  acknowledged 
purpose,  as  a  standard — an  infallible  measure — of  saving 
truth;  which  it  never  could  be,  were  it  allowable  and  safe  to 
take  a  part  here  and  a  part  there,  in  order  to  patch  up  the 
semblance  of  a  support  for  those  many  inventions  which  pre- 
sumptuous men  have  sought  out. 

As  this  is  a  cardinal  point,  my  brethren,  standing  upon 
such  undeniable  grounds  of  authority  and  reason,  th  none 
can  excusably  be  ignorant  of  it,  or  neglect  it,  I  feel  bound  to 
press  it  upon  your  most  serious  attention  and  observance; 


170  ON   THE   STUDY  AND 

and  this  the  rather,  because  it  is  beyond  contradiction,  that 
a  broken  Scripture  is  the  root  of  those  divisions  which  deface 
and  defeat  Christianity,  and  the  prevailing  snare  in  which 
tlie  ignorant  and  unwary  are  taken  captive  "by  the  cunning 
craftiness  of  men  who  lie  in  wait  to  deceive  them;"  and  be- 
cause it  is  equally  beyond  dispute,  that  the  carelessness  or 
easiness  of  public  opinion  is  yielding  to  the  assertion  of  a 
contrary  doctrine  by  those  whose  foundation  can  only  be 
found  in  a  partial  or  mutilated  vnew  of  divine  truth. 

In  searching  the  Scriptures,  therefore,  their  unity  is  never 
to  be  lost  sight  of;  for  it  is  this  alone  which  can  preserve  ns 
from  being  led  away  by  false  doctrine,  and  seduced  into  the 
specious,  but  dangerous  delusion,  of  marking  out  a  plan  of 
salvation  for  ourselves,  at  variance,  in  some  of  its  features, 
with  that  which  heaven  has  revealed  and  prescribed. 

From  this  sacred  unity  also,  duly  estimated  and  applied, 
we  learn,  that  no  conflicting  or  opposite  doctrines  can  equally 
claim  the  warrant  of  God's  holy  word.  If,  therefore,  we  are 
at  any  time  inclined  to  construe  any  part  of  the  Scriptures  in 
such  wise  as  to  conflict  with  any  other  part,  or  with  its  gen- 
eral import,  we  may  be  sure  beforehand  that  such  construc- 
tion is,  to  say  the  least,  doubtful,  and  not  to  be  relied  upon 
as  an  article  of  the  faith.  Deep  and  mature  examination  is 
necessarj^  before  we  commit  our  souls  on  the  truth  and  cer- 
tainty of  a  doctrine  which  has  any  thing  opposed  to  it,  in  the 
letter  of  Scripture  even — to  say  nothing  of  the  general  tenor 
and  design  of  that  blessed  communication  to  sinners.  All 
reasonings,  however  specious,  must  go  for  nought,  if  in  their 
result  the  Scripture  shall  be  broken,  and  the  unity  of  its 
purpose  and  meaning  be  severed  or  perverted. 

Bearing  in  mind  then,  my  brethren,  these  three  essential 
rules,  to-wit:  the  identity  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  dis- 
pensations; the  careful  comparison  of  the  more  obscure  de- 
lineations of  tlie  gospel  contained  in  the  Law  and  the  Prophets, 
with  their  fulfilment  and  completion  in  the  person  and  doc- 
trine of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  teaching  of  his  apostles,  and 
the  unity  of  Scripture  in  the  connexion  and  dependence  of 
all  its  parts  as  a  whole;  you  will  be  furnished  to  fulfil  the 
duties  enjoined  in  my  text  with  advantage:  while  at  the  same 
time,  you  will  be  guarded  against  the  ruinous  influence  of  a 


INTEEPKETATION   OF   THE   SCEIPTUEES.  171 

partial  and  unconnected  view  of  divine  truth,  that  fruitful 
source  of  all  the  divisions  which  deform  Christianity,  and 
which  encourage  and  increase  the  infidelity  of  a  "world  that 
lieth  in  wickedness." 

Profitable,  however,  as  these  rules  unquestionably  are,  and 
essential  to  any  just  and  saving  view  of  the  word  of  life? 
there  is  yet  one  more  of  the  deepest  interest,  and  without 
attention  to  which,  those  before  mentioned  are  neutraiized, 
if  not  defeated.  And  that  is  the  rule  of  interpretation  of 
Scripture,  as  the  one  standard  of  the  one  faith  of  the  gospel. 
Now,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  while  it  is  indubitably  cer- 
tain, that  "holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary  to 
salvation,  so  that  whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be 
proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man,  that  it 
should  be  believed  as  an  article  of  the  faith,  or  be  thought 
requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation,"  as  it  is  expressed  in  the 
sixth  article  of  the  Church;  it  is  nevertheless  equally  certain, 
that  uniformity  of  belief  and  practice  among  men — in  other 
words.  Christian  unity — must  depend  upon  the  interpretation 
given  to  the  Scriptures — upon  the  sense  and  application 
made  of  the  doctrines  and  precepts  therein  revealed.  It  is, 
therefore,  of  the  last  importance  to  the  very  being  of  the 
Scriptures  as  the  only  standard  of  saving  faith,  as  well  as  to 
the  comfort  of  your  own  souls,  that  your  minds  should  be 
grounded  and  settled  on  this  point.  To  this  end  I  shall  give 
the  rule,  and  then  explain  and  enforce  it  by  some  plain  and 
obvious  examples. 

The  rule  then  is,  "That  interpretation  of  Scripture  is  to  be 
followed  and  relied  upon  as  the  true  sense  and  meaning  which 
has  invariably  been  held  and  acted  upon  by  the  one  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Chui-ch  of  Christ." 

In  explanation  of  this  rule,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  my 
brethren,  that  while  God  hath  fully  and  clearly  revealed  his 
will  to  us,  yet  he  hath  so  done  it  as  to  form  a  part  of  our 
trial.  While  all  things  necessary  to  salvation  are  set  forth 
in  his  word  for  onr  learning.  Scripture  is  nevertheless  so  con- 
structed, that  "the  unlearned  and  the  unstable  can  wrest  it 
to  their  own  destruction;"  and  the  word  of  the  gospel  is  either 
"a  savour  of  life  or  a  savour  of  deatli,"  as  we  receive  and  ap- 
ply it.     Now  if  this  was  the  case  in  the  apostolic  age,  as  St. 


172  ON   THE   STUDY   AND 

Peter  and  St.  Paul  both  declare  that  it  was,  much  more  is  it 
possible,  and  to  be  expected,  in  these  days  of  multiplied  di- 
visions and  latitudinarian  departure  from  the  faith:  and, 
therefore,  the  more  earnestly  to  be  contended  against  by 
those  who  are  "set  for  the  defence  of  the  gospel." 

If  the  inquiry  then  be,  which  of  two  or  more  conflicting 
doctrines  or  systems  of  religion  be  tlie  right  one,  and  to  be 
received  and  relied  upon  as  the  truth  of  God?  I  answer, 
first,  "How  readest  thou?  "What  saith  the  Scripture?"  Is 
one  of  the  doctrines  or  systems  clearly  revealed  therein;  or 
reasonably,  without  force  and  refinement,  to  be  deduced  from 
what  is  thus  revealed?  Is  it  free  from  opposition  to  the  other 
doctrines  and  general  design  of  revelation?  If  so,  there  need 
be  no  difficulty.  The  doctrine  or  system  thus  supported  is 
to  be  received  as  true. 

But  suppose  the  ingenuity  of  man's  wisdom,  in  support  of 
some  favorite  system,  shall  have  thrown  over  the  subject 
such  a  gloss  of  perverted  Scripture  and  specious  reasoning, 
as  to  render  it  difficult  for  a  plain  mind  to  disentangle  the 
sophistry  of  the  argument,  and  for  a  humble  mind  to  resist 
the  authority  of  great  and  learned  names  and  numerous  bo- 
dies of  professing  christians  built  upon  this  system:  what  then 
is  the  only  standard  to  which  we  can  have  recourse?  To  this, 
I  answer:  the  word  of  God,  as  received,  believed,  and  acted 
upon  universally,  by  the  primitive  church — that  body  of  holy 
confessors  and  martyrs,  who  received  the  true  interpretation 
of  every  doctrine  from  the  lips  of  inspired  and  infallible  men 
— who  themselves  kept  the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel,  and 
committed  it,  pure  and  unadulterated,  to  faithful  men,  their 
successors  in  this  mighty  trust — who  watched  against  every 
innovation,  fearlessly  denounced  every  heresy,  and  kept  the 
Church,  what  it  was  constituted  by  its  Almighty  Head,  and 
what  it  is  called  in  the  inspired  volume,  "the  pillar  and  ground 
of  the  truth." 

And  I  hazard  nothing,  my  friends,  by  asserting  in  the  most 
unqualified  terms,  that  this  method  of  determining  disputed 
doctrine  must  be  admitted  and  acted  upon  as  the  only  safe 
rule,  or  the  Scriptures  be  abandoned  as  containing  any  prac- 
tical standard  of  faith.  There  is  no  medium,  my  brethren, 
between  this  standard  and  none.     For,  however  desirable, 


IKTEEPEETATION    OF  THE   SCEIPTUKES.  173 

however  necessary  it  may  be  to  the  comfort  of  those  nuraer- 
ous  bodies  of  professing  christians,  whose  systems  of  doctrine 
are  opposed  to  each  other  thougli  drawn  from  the  same  Bi- 
ble, that  the  standard  of  faith  should  not  be  determined  by 
this  rule;  yet  certain  it  is — nor  can  the  principle  be  contro- 
verted— that  of  opposite  views  of  divine  truth,  one  only  can 
be  the  true  one.  From  the  nature  of  things,  both  cannot  be 
right;  and  which  of  them  is  so,  can  no  otherwise  be  deter- 
mined, than  by  comparing  them  with  the  standard,  as  above 
explained. 

As  this  is  a  point  of  great  importance  to  you,  my  brethren, 
and  indeed  to  all  who  hear  me,  I  shall  endeavor  to  illustrate 
it,  by  some  examples  of  opposing  doctrine. 

"Whether  the  doctrine  of  a  trinity  of  persons  in  the  unity 
of  the  Godhead,  or  the  opponent  doctrine  of  a  unity  not  thus 
constituted,  be  the  true  interpretation  of  what  is  revealed  to 
us  concerning  this  point  of  the  faith;  evident  must  it  be,  from 
the  very  opposition  of  the  terms,  that  both  doctrines  cannot 
be  true,  and  equally  safe  to  those  who  entertain  them. 

"Whether  the  essential  divinity  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  or 
his  mere  humanity,  be  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures; 
certain  it  is,  that  one  must  be  false,  and  false  in  such  wise 
as  to  be  fatal  to  those  who  hold  it. 

"Whether  the  redemption  wrought  out  for  sinners  by  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  the  Son  of  Goo,  be  general,  that  is, 
for  all  mankind;  or  particular,  that  is,  embracing  only  certain 
persons  styled  the  elect;  is  a  question  of  the  true  or  false 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  involving  the  very  possibility  of 
religion,  as  the  highest  duty  of  rational  redeemed  creatures. 
Yet  one  of  those  doctrines,  with  all  that  is  built  upon  it,  must 
be  false  and  unfounded. 

"Whether  the  punishment  of  the  impenitent  and  ungodly, 
in  a  future  state,  shall  be  eternal,  or  only  for  a  limited  dura- 
tion, issuing  in  universal  salvation,  is  a  question  of  Scripture 
well  or  ill  interpreted,  which  involves  the  very  essence  of 
moral  obligation  from  man  to  his  Maker,  and  from  man  toman. 

Yet,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  it  is  within  your  own  obser- 
vation, that  these  opposing  doctrines,  with  many  others  which 
I  have  not  time  to  notice,  are  all  held  by  diflFerent  bodies  of 
professing  Christians,  as  the  infallible  truth  of  revelation — 


174  ON   THE   STUDY   AND 

who  declare  the  most  unqualified  belief  of  their  truth  and 
certainty,  and  claim,  without  a  blush,  the  witness  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  their  favor,  from  their  success  in  making  ^jroselytes. 

In  like  manner  of  those  doctrines  of  revelation  which  re- 
late to  the  Church  of  God,  as  a  means  of  grace  and  assurance 
to  man,  in  working  out  his  eternal  salvation. 

Whether  tlie  Churcli  of  Cukist,  which  he  "purchased  with 
his  own  blood,"  is  a  divinely  instituted,  visible  society,  built 
on  the  same  foundation,  professing  the  same  faith,  and  united 
in  the  same  doctrine,  discipline  and  worship;  or  a  loose,  un- 
connected medley  of  separate  assemblies,  the  creatures  of 
human  presumption  or  convenience,  holding  opposite  doc- 
trines, and  inculcating  opposite  practices;  is  a  vital  question 
to  the  hope  of  man  for  hereafter,  which  depends  on  the  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture,  and  can  be  true  only  of  one. 

Whether  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  by  divine 
appointment,  and  of  three  orders;  or  of  human  convenience, 
and  of  one  grade;  is  a  question  which  meets  the  Christian  at 
the  very  entrance  of  his  course,  and  can  only  be  settled  by  the 
word  of  God  rightly  understood,  and  cannot  be  true  of  both. 

Whether  a  divine  and  verifiable  commission  and  authority 
is  requisite,  to  give  efiect  to  the  sacraments  of  the  gospel,  as 
instituted  means  of  grace;  or  whether  they  are  equally  valid 
and  efficacious,  by  whomsoever  administered;  is  an  inquiry 
which  enters  into  the  continually  recurring  duties  of  the 
Christian,  and  involves  his  title  to  the  covenanted  mercies  of 
God:  one  of  which  must  be  false. 

Yet  these  doctrines,  you  also  know,  my  brethren,  are  vari- 
ously held,  and  even  considered  as  secondary  and  unim- 
portant points,  by  numerous  bodies  in  the  Christian  world. 
Yet  surely  they  are  a  part  of  that  revelation  which  God  hath 
given  us,  and  dependent  for  their  truth  or  falsehood  on  the 
interpretation  of  his  word! 

Now,  let  us  suppose,  for  a  moment,  a  plain,  sincere  person, 
truly  desirous  of  the  truth  of  God,  but  perplexed  with  these 
conflicting  doctrines,  of  all  of  which  he  finds  something  said 
in  tlie  Bible,  yet  sees  them  differently  held  by  the  various 
religious  denominations  around  him:  how  is  he  to  find,  among 
them,  the  rule  of  faith — that  standard  of  belief  and  practice, 
which  all,  nevertheless,  admit  is  to  be  found  in  the  word  of 


mTEEPEETATION   OF   THE   SCEIPTUKES.  175 

God?  Is  he  to  expect  a  miraculous  direction  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  as  some  most  ignorantly  and  dangerously  teach? 
Even  under  this  direction,  he  is  no  nearer  his  object,  for  all 
claim  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  of  God  for  their  respective 
systems:  but  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  all  should  have  it, 
without  admitting  the  horrid  blasphemj^,  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  gives  equal  testimony  to  the  truth  of  doctrines  so  op- 
posite, that  both  cannot  be  true.  Is  he,  in  this  case,  to  have 
recom'se  to  the  judgment  of  men? '  The  difficulty  still  con- 
tinues. The  men  themselves  are  at  variance,  and  one  will 
deny  what  another  affirms.  Is  he  then  to  consider  it  a  mat- 
ter of  such  entire  indifference  what  system  of  belief  he  em- 
braces, that  personal  preference  and  convenience  may  de- 
termine his  choice?  This  would  be  to  reverse  all  certainty, 
in  a  matter  of  such  moment:  inasmuch,  as  it  exalts  human 
opinion  in  religion  into  a  standard  of  the  Scriptures,  instead 
of  bringing  down  human  opinion  to  the  word  of  God,  as  the 
only  standard  in  matters  of  saving  faith. 

What  then,  my  hearers,  is  the  only  resort?  To  what  quarter 
can  he  turn  his  perplexed  mind,  but  to  that  cloud  of  Chris- 
tian witnesses  who  "continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in 
prayers" — that  is,  to  the  primitive  Church — as  the  best  ex- 
positor of  the  obscure  parts  of  Scripture — the  sure  and  safest 
guide  to  the  truth  of  conflicting  doctrines  and  practices.  But 
it  may  be  said,  this,  after  all,  is  an  appeal  to  the  judgment 
of  men.  In  one  sense,  it  is  so.  But  to  what  sort  of  men?  To 
men,  who  saw  with  their  eyes  the  miracles  which  established 
the  gospel;  who  heard  with  their  ears  the  instructions  of  in- 
fallible guides;  who  spent  their  lives  in  the  faith  and  order 
established  in  the  Church  by  the  apostles,  and  sealed  the 
truth  of  that  faith  and  order  with  their  blood.  Whether  they 
are  competent  to  decide,  judge  ye. 

Thus  have  I  shown  you,  ray  hearers,  the  importance  and 
the  application  of  the  rule  given  for  determining  the  true 
sense  of  Scripture,  as  the  one  only  standard  jof  faith  and 
obedience;  and  though  the  view  taken  has  necessarily  been 
brief,  I  think  I  can  appeal  to  the  understandings  of  all  present, 
whether  it  is  not  both  reasonable  and  effectual;  and  compe- 
tent, moreover,  if  duly  observed,  not  only  to  preserve  every 


176  ON   THE   STDDT   AND 

sincere  person  from  departing  from  "the  faith  once  commit- 
ted to  the  s. lints,"  but  to  .  rre  t  the  spreading  mischief,  and 
to  awaken  and  bring  back  the  multitudes  who  blindly  and 
inconsiderately,  but  not  excusably,  have  committed  their 
souls  to  a  security  on  which  they  would  not  risk  their  worldly 
interest. 

II.  I  come  now,  as  was  proposed  in  the  second  place,  to 
obviate  some  prevailing  and  popular  errors,  on  this  funda- 
mental subject, 

1.  And  first  (because  most  extensive  and  injurious  in  its 
operation,)  the  principle  acknowledged  and  acted  upon  by  all 
anti-episcopal  denominations,  that  "the  scriptures  are  exclu- 
sively suflficient  for  their  own  interpretation."  Now,  my 
brethren  and  hearers,  if  these  words  have  any  practical  mean- 
ing, it  must  be  this:  not  that  men  nrnay  draw  from  the  Bible 
those  directions  which  shall  be  sufficient  to  secure  their  sal- 
vation, if  faithfully  followed,  but  they  loill  do  so.  As  this, 
however,  must  depend  on  the  true  or  erroneous  interpretation 
given  to  the  Scriptures  by  each  individual  person,  the  prin- 
ciple itself  is  hereby  shown  to  be,  both  theoretically  and 
practically,  unfounded.  Of  this,  I  conceive,  there  needs  no 
other  proof  than  the  actual  condition  of  the  Christian  world, 
with  its  hundreds  of  discordant  and  conflicting  professions  of 
faith  and  practice — all  drawn  from  the  same  word  of  God — 
when  contrasted  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  with  the 
alfecting  prayer  of  the  great  head  of  the  Church,  at  tlie  close 
of  his  ministry  upon  earth — "that  they  all  may  be  one,  as 
thou  Father  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be 
one,  in  us."  But  were  other  proof  required,  it  is  easily 
found  in  those  summaries  of  doctrine  which  many  of  those 
bodies  who  assert  the  principle  have  nevertheless  provided, 
to  instruct  their  respective  members  in  what  they  conceive 
to  be  the  true  meaning  of  scripture;  thus  manifesting,  either 
the  insufficiency  of  the  principle,  or  its  dangerous  tendency: 
and,  beyond  dispute,  nothing  but  disunion  and  division, 
without  limi^,  can  grow  from  such  a  root. 

2.  In  support  of  this  principle,  and  as  a  kind  of  corollary 
from  it,  it  has  come  to  be  considered  as  the  dictate  and  the 
duty  of  an  enlightened  charity  to  look  upon  all  varieties  of 
religious  profession  as  right — that  is,  right  in  such  a  sense  as 


INTERPRETATION   OF  THE   SCRIPTURES.  177 

to  be  safe  for  salvation.  And  it  is  beyond  denial,  that  wlio- 
ever  attempts  to  expose  the  fallacy  of  this  notion,  lays  him- 
self liable  to  the  charge  of  bigotry  and  intolerance — not  only 
from  Christian  denominations,  but  from  infidel  contenders 
for  some  share  of  the  Christian  name.  'Now,  my  brethren 
and  hearers,  as  this  is  one  of  the  most  specious  deceptions 
with  which  revealed  religion  has  to  contend — as  it  is  fortified 
in  its  operation  by  an  erroneous  and  modern  view  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christian  charity — as  it  is  rendered  captivating,  to 
the  young  and  thoughtless,  by  being  tricked  off  with  the 
epithet  oflibei'ality,  and  meets  in  the  secret  chambers  of  the 
heart  something  like  the  wish,  that  it  could  be  so — I  feel  it 
my  bounden  duty,  to  arm  you  against  its  seducing  influence, 
and  to  furnish  you,  and  all  who  choose  to  profit  by  it,  with 
such  a  short  and  convincing  refutation,  as  can  be  met  by  no 
fiiir  argument  of  reason,  or  authority  of  revealed  religion. 

If  all  varieties  of  Christian  profession  are  right,  in  the 
sense  of  being  safe  for  salvation,  then  none  are  right — there 
is  no  such  thing  as  revealed  religion  in  the  world — there  is 
no  assurance  of  faith — there  is  no  comfort  of  hope,  to  man, 
for  hereafter:  and  this  I  say  upon  the  sure  ground,  that  no 
power,  not  even  omnipotence  (with  reverence  be  it  spoken) 
can  make  contradictions  to  be  the  same  tiling.  If  all  are 
right  in  the  above  sense,  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  an  infallible 
standard  of  faith  and  duty.  They  only  serve  to  give  us  in- 
formation, which  every  man  is  at  liberty  to  use  as  he  pleases; 
and  from  this  the  transition  is  easy,  to  the  entire  neglect  of 
them. 

3.  But  it  is  said — and  it  is  relied  upon  by  those  who  have 
a  miserable  interest  in  the  prevalence,  and  establishment,  of 
a  misdirected  judgment — that  all  the  conflicting  denomi- 
nations of  Christian  profession,  nevertheless,  hold  the  great 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Christian  revelation,  and  differ 
only  in  non-essentials — as  they  venture  to  call  them. 

But,  my  hearers,  this  is  not  the  fact,  as  respects  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  gospel;  unless,  indeed,  actual,  known, 
and  published,  opposition  of  professed  belief,  on  some,  if  not 
all,  of  those  doctrines,  be  to  hold  them  as  a  common  stock. 
Is  the  extent  of  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus — that 
is,  whether  it  extends  to  all,  or  only  a  part  of  mankind — a 
[Vol.  1,— *12.] 


178  ON   THE   STUDY  AND 

fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Christian  revelation?  And  can 
those  who  are  opposed  to  each  other  on  this  point,  be  said, 
■with  any  show  of  common  sense,  to  hold  the  doctrine  in 
common?  '  Is  the  essential  divinity,  or  the  mere  hmiianity, 
of  our  Redeemer,  (considered  as  conclusive  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,)  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christianity,  or  a  non- 
essential? And  can  the  opposite  oj^inions  upon  this  article 
of  the  faith,  be  said  to  hold  it  in  common?  Wiiy,  where  i& 
the  resentment  of  the  public  understanding,  at  such  a  bare- 
faced insult  to  its  power  of  discrimination? 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  the  Unitarians  stand  alone,  and 
incur  the  censure  of  all  other  denominations  of  professing 
Christians.  But  why  so?  Upon  the  principle,  that  Scrip- 
ture is  exclusively  sufficient  for  its  own  interpretation,  and 
that  all  varieties  of  belief  are  equally  right,  that  is,  safe  for 
salvation;  1  ask,  and  I  wait  the  answer — What  privilege  has 
the  Calvinist  or  Arminian,  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture, 
which  is  not  equally  due  to  the  Unitarian  or  the  Univei'salist? 
And  thus,  perhaps,  may  be  seen  and  felt,  iiow  unfounded, 
and  fallacious — how  dangerous,  and  destructive  of  all  revealed 
religion,  such  an  erroneous  principle  must  be. 

With  respect  to  those  points  called  non-essential,  to  which 
their  diflerences  are  affirmed  to  be  confined,  there  is  a  com- 
plete deception,  either  of  themselves  or  of  others;  for  it  be- 
trays an  unpardonable  ignorance  of  the  nature  and  design  of 
religion,  to  assert  that  the  only  wise  God,  who  doeth  nothing 
in  vain,  hath  revealed  any  thing  to  the  faith  and  obedience 
of  his  creatures,  which  they  are  at  liberty  to  treat  as  non- 
essential— that  is,  of  no  practical  importance.  But  it  is  de- 
nounced as  uncharitable  and  illiberal,  to  deny  the  soundness 
of  such  opinions;  and  many  who  doubt  them,  are  deterred 
from  following  out  their  doubts,  by  reason  of  this  popular 
notion.  Yet  sure  I  am,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  that  it  is 
not  Christian  charity  that  is  hereby  wounded;  for  the  charity 
of  the  gospel,  properly  understood,  has  no  application  to- 
opinions.  It  can  have  no  fellowship  with  error  in  faith,  or 
corruption  of  doctrine.  In  fact,  it  is  bound  to  oppose  them. 
It  is  to  i:>er8ons  only,  especially  to  those  laboring  under  the' 
fatal  consequences  of  religious  error^  that  the  beauty  and 
efficacy  of  this  divine  grace  can  be  manifested;  whereas,  the 


INTEEPEETATION   OF   THE   SCRIPTURES.  179 

modem  notion  of  this  doctrine  is  the  reverse  of  this,  instill- 
ing the  persuasion  that  its  right  exercise  regards  opinions 
chiefly.  But  were  this  so,  who  does  not  see,  that  religious 
truth  and  error  would  be  of  no  importance?  It  is,  therefore, 
a  perversion  of  the  doctrine  of  Christian  charity,  and  fatal  to 
its  very  existence,  as  a  Christian  duty:  its  certain  and  only 
fruit  being  indifference,  and  not  love. 

With  respect  to  the  illioeralitij  of  denouncing  error,  either 
in  doctrine  or  practice — as  the  Scriptures  know  nothing  of 
this  word  in  such  a  connexion,  nor  yet  of  what  is  meant  by 
it,  so  neither  do  I:  I  will,  therefore,  only  say,  that  those  are 
commonly  most  earnest  in  requiring  liberality,  who,  whether 
they  know  it  not,  stand  most  in  need  of  its  exercise  towards 
their  own  opinions  on  religious  subjects. 

III.  I  might  j^ursue  this  investigation,  my  brethren,  to 
many  other  delusions  of  the  same  kind;  but  as  time  fails  me, 
and  they  are  all  to  be  detected  by  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  for  your  guidance  in  searching  the  Scrip- 
tures, I  shall  conclude  with  a  few  plain  and  practical  in- 
ferences from  what  has  been  said. 

1.  If  such  be  the  effectual  nature  of  the  provision  made  for 
(.tur  religious  comfort  and  edification  in  the  word  of  God,  it 
must  be  our  bounden  duty  to  cleave  to  it  with  earnestness, 
aftection,  and  diligence.  To  remain  wilfully  ignorant  of,  or 
unaffected  by,  the  mighty  discoveries  of  revelation,  betrays 
such  a  disregard  of  God,  and  our  own  souls — such  a  contempt 
of  his  promises  and  threatenings,  and  so  great  a  preference 
of  the  world — as  deserves  to  be  given  over  to  a  reprobate  mind; 
and,  as  this  is  threatened — has  been  inflicted — and  is  yet  in 
operation,  it  should  awaken  and  alarm  all,  who  are  conscious 
of  this  neglect,  to  escape  from  the  snare,  "before  the  things 
which  make  for  their  peace,  are  for  ever  hid  from  their  eyes.'' 

2.  As  the  Scriptures  are  so  constructed  as  to  form  a  part 
of  our  trial;  and  offer  and  supply  the  treasures  of  divine  wis- 
dom, in  2:)reference,  to  the  humble,  teachable,  and  desirous 
soul;  it  should  be  our  constant  care  to  acquire  and  retain  this 
temper  and  habit  of  mind — carefully  guarding  against  all 
prejudices,  whether  of  natural  disposition,  or  acquired  incli- 
nation— ever  ready  to  receive  instruction  from  those  who  are 
qualified,  or  authorized,  to  impart  it;  yet  not  blindly  and  im- 


180  ON   THE   STUDY,    &C. 

plicitly,  but  with  concurrence  of  tlie  understanding,  certified 
by  obvious  agreement  with  "the  hiw  and  the  testimony"  of 
Scripture;  that  so,  "the  word  being  received  into  an  honest 
and  good  heart,"  and  nourished  witli  prayer  for  divine  grace 
and  direction,  may  "bring  forth  fruit  with  patience."  For 
mysteries  are  yet  revealed  unto  the  meek,  while,  in  the  order 
of  the  divine  wisdom,  they  are  Md  from  those  whom  our 
Saviour  styles  "the  wise  and  prudent." 

Lastly.  As  the  holy  Scriptures  contain  the  standard,  or 
only  infallible  rule,  of  faith  and  practice;  our  chief  care  should 
be,  to  be  in  all  things  conformed  to  this  pattern:  not,  as  the 
manner  of  some  is,  considering  some  parts  more  important 
than  others;  but  wisely  judging  all  to  be  of  such  vital  con- 
sequence, that  only  as  we  are  found  in  agreement  therewith, 
can  we  take  to  ourselves  the  comfort  and  assurance  of  those 
jpromises^  which  are  then,  and  not  otherwise,  "yea  and  amen 
to  us,  in  Christ  Jesfs." 

"Wherefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  as  ye  are  "built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone,"  and  are  "made  wise 
unto  salvation,"  through  the  word  of  life  furnished  in  the 
Scriptures;  "therefore,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmoveable — not 
carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine — always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord;  for  as  much  as  ye  know,  that  your 
labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

To  whose  holy  name  be  glory  and  praise,  now  and  ever, 
world  without  end.     Amen. 


A   SERMON, 

PREACHED    AT 

THE  CONSECRATION  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH,  RALEIGH,  N.  C 
Sunday,  December  20,  1829. 


1  Kings  vi.  11,  12,  13. 


"And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Solomon,  saying,  'Concerning  this 
liouse  which  thou  art  in  building,  if  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  statiites,  and  exe- 
cute my  judgments,  and  keep  all  my  commandments,  to  walk  in  them;  then 
will  I  perform  my  word  with  thee,  which  I  spake  unto  David  thy  father:  And 
I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  not  forsake  my  people 
Israel.'  " 

The  connexion  of  the  text  with  the  purpose  which  we  have 
met  to  accomplish,  and  the  services  in  which  we  have  been 
engaged,  must  be  sufficiently  obvious,  I  presume,  to  all 
])resent;  and  the  train  of  thought  necessarily  thereby  sug- 
gested to  every  serious  and  well  ordered  mind,  must  lead  to 
the  solemn  considerations  which  are  connected  with  our  re- 
ligious condition,  as  the  provision  and  appointment  of  the 
most  wise  and  merciful  God,  for  the  present  and  eternal  good 
of  his  rational  creation.  The  range  is  indeed  a  wide  one,  my 
brethren  and  hearers;  too  M'ide  and  extended  to  be  fully  fol- 
lowed out  in  the  reasonable  compass  of  a  single  discourse:  yet, 
in  the  leading  particulars  which  it  suggests  to  our  medita- 
tions, there  will  be  found  abundant  matter  for  edification  to 
all  present;  while  there  will  not  be  wanting  sufficient  grounds 
of  encouragement  and  satisfaction  to  those  who  have  devoted 
their  time  and  their  substance  to  j)rovide  this  appropriate  ac- 
commodation for  the  public  worship  of  Almighty  God.  "And 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Solomon,  saying,  'Concerning 
this  house  which  thou  art  in  building,  if  thou  wilt  walk  in 
my  statutes,  and  execute  my  judgments,  and  keep  all  ray 
commandments  to  walk  in  them;  then  will  I  perform  my 
word  with  thee,  which  I  spake  unto  David  thy  father:  And 


182  A   SERMON,    PEE  ACHED   AT   THE   CONSECKATION 

I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  not  forsake 
my  people  Israel.' " 

The  reflections  suggested  by  this  passage  of  Scripture,  and 
by  the  context  in  connexion  with  the  present  occasion,  point 
to  three  subjects  of  general  edification,  which  I  shall  present 
in  their  order;  and  then  conclude  with  an  application  of  the 
whole. 

I.  First,  the  subject  of  religion  in  general  is  necessarily 
presented  to  our  consideration,  by  the  particular  circumstance 
to  which  the  text  refers. 

On  this  subject,  it  is  all  important,  ray  brethren  and  hearers, 
that  we  entertain  just  views;  a  mistake,  either  as  to  its  nature, 
.its  derivation,  or  its  application  to  moral  condition,  must  be 
attended  with  danger,  and  can  only  lead  to  some  false  and 
spurious  exhibition  of  an  unfounded  hope.  Yet  on  no  other 
subject,  j)erhaps,  with  which  men  engage,  is  there  less  pre- 
vious thought  bestowed,  even  by  serious  persons;  and,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  upon  no  other  is  there  so  great  a  variety, 
both  of  opinion  and  practice. 

If,  then,  it  be  inquired,  "What  is  religion?*'  the  answer  is 
ready.  That  it  is  the  cultivation  of  the  divine  nature  and 
image,  impressed  upon  moral  beings  at  their  creation.  It  is 
the  rendering  to  the  glorious  and  underived  Author  of  all 
being  the  homage  of  the  affections,  the  conformity  of  the  will, 
and  the  obedience  of  the  conduct,  singly  and  unceasingly. 
This  is  religion  as  exhibited  before  the  throne  of  God,  by 
those  pure  and  holy  beings  who  have  never  swerved  from  the 
love  of  their  Creator.  This  is  religion,  as  enjoyed  and  prac- 
tised by  our  first  parents,  before  their  apostacy  from  God, 
and  will  be  that  of  their  posterity,  when,  purified  from  the 
corruption  of  their  nature,  and  recovered  to  holiness  by  the 
grace  of  the  gospel,  they  shall  be  restored  to  the  bright  in- 
heritance forfeited  by  sin.  But  such  is  not,  cannot  be,  the 
religion  of  sinners.  A  religion  calculated  for  fallen,  de- 
praved, and  corrupt  creatures,  alienated  from  God,  must  be 
suitable  to  their  condition,  commensurate  with  their  powers 
of  moral  improvement,  and  calculated  to  try  and  to  prove 
the  sincerity  and  strength  of  their  faith.  Faith,  as  a  moral 
virtue,  as  a  religious  duty,  is  unknown  to  the  religion  of 
heaven.     But  on  earth,  it  is  the  foundation  on  which  the  en- 


OF   CHEIST   CHUECH,   RAJLEIGIl.  ISS 

tire  superstructure  is  built  up,  and  without  which  the  whole 
aim,  purpose,  and  design  of  religion  is  defeated,  and  its  at- 
tainments  rendered  impossible.  The  religion  of  heaven  is 
neither  derived  from  revelation,  nor  enforced  by  command, 
nor  produced  with  effort,  nor  assisted  by  sacraments  as  means 
of  grace,  nor  encumbered  with  ministers  and  places,  and 
times  and  seasons  for  the  performance  of  its  holy  duties.  I^o, 
my  brethren;  the  love  of  God  is  the  unmixed  element  of  their 
being,  and  its  exhibition  in  adoration  and  praise,  the  spontane- 
ous offering,  the  overflowing  of  the  ravished  spirit,  the  unceas- 
ing and  happy  employment  of  those  pure  and  uncontaminated 
spirits  who  dwell  for  ever  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  derive 
from  the  unveiled  brigh'tness  of  the  heavenly  glory,  continual 
increase  of  love,  and  joy,  and  ]D€ace,  and  blessedness  unspeak- 
able; whereas  the  religion  of  redeemed  sinners  is  a  prescribed 
and  limited  institution,  with  ritual  observances,  and  outward 
and  visible  ordinances  in  the  hands  of  an  appointed  ministry; 
all  derived  from  express  revelation — authorized  by  divine 
appointment — enforced  by  positive  command — attainable 
only  through  the  painful  efforts  of  watclifulness,  self-denial, 
and  mortiiication  of  the  natural  inclinations — and  after  all, 
prompted  and  wrought  out  in  the  desire,  and  enlightened 
and  assisted  in  the  endeavor,  of  the  fallen  creature,  by  the 
divine  grace  of  a  divine  Saviour,  as  the  source  and  spring  of 
*'all  holy  desires,  all  good  counsels,  and  all  just  works." 

In  our  estimate  of  religion,  therefore,  to  confound  what  is 
peculiar  to  our  condition  as  a  state  of  trial  and  moral  im- 
provement, with  what  belongs  to  the  same  thing,  under  op- 
posite circumstances;  and  thence  to  decry,  undervalue,  and 
cast  away  ritual  observances  and  positive  institutions  as  weak 
and  beggarly  elements,  unworthy  of  our  care  and  observance; 
is  to  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith,  and,  in  the  unbridled  license 
of  a  heated  imagination,  to  surrender  the  soul  to  the  deceits 
of  an  inexplicable  mysticism,  or  to  the  equally  dangerous  de- 
lusions of  an  entliusiastic  and  unbalanced  mind.  AYhile,  on 
the  otlier  hand,  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  in  depart- 
ing from  the  revealed  appointments  and  commanded  duties 
of  the  wisdom  of  God  for  the  attainment  of  eternal  salvation^ 
is  to  vacate  revelation  as  the  foundation  of  faith,  and  to  incur 
the  awful  risk  of  being  surrendered  to  that  strong  delusion 


184  A  SERMON,   PREACHED  AT  THE  COKSECRATION 

which  God  threatens  to  send  upon  those  "who  receive  not  the 
love  of  the  trntli  that  they  might  be  saved." 

Yet  all  wisli  to  be  saved — yea,  we  may  say  with  truth, 
that  all  li(ype  to  be  saved — that  there  is  not  one  in  this  con- 
gregation— no,  iiot  one,  even  in  the  wide  range  where  the 
Christian  revelation  is  known,  or  in  the  still  wider  range, 
where  "darkness  covers  the  earth  and  gross  darkness  the 
people" — who  does  not  hope,  on  some  principle,  true  or  false, 
that  another  state  of  being  will  place  him  in  unchangeable 
enjoyment.  For,  my  hearers,  in  the  very  elements  of  his 
nature,  man  is  a  religious  being;  and  though  fallen,  degraded, 
and  blinded,  and,  over  the  greater  part  of  this  poor  world, 
alike  ignorant  of  God  and  of  himsQlf,  yet  claims  relation- 
ship with  eternity,  and  intuitively  seeks  to  propitiate  and 
appease  the  unknown  God,  whom  he  fears,  but  cannot  love. 
And  it  is  well  worthy  of  your  serious  notice,  my  friends,  that 
man  never  has  been  found  in  the  circumference  of  this  world, 
so  devoid  of  intellect,  and  degraded  in  condition,  as  to  be 
divested  of  all  religious  impression.  Yea,  more  than  this — 
he  hath  no  where  been  found  collected  into  a  community,, 
without  exhibiting  the  shadow  of  that  substance  contained  in 
the  revelation  we  are  favored  with.  The  temple,  the  priest^ 
the  altar,  and  the  victim,  of  the  grossest  and  most  disgusting; 
superstition,  set  the  seal  of  universal  humanity  to  the  funda- 
mental truth  that  sinners  can  approach  God  acceptably  only 
through  a  representative,  and  be  cleansed  from  guilt  no 
otherwise  than  by  an  atonement  of  blood,  wasliiug  away  the 
defilement  of  sin. 

To  a, testimony  thus  universal,  in  favor  of  religion,  we  re- 
fer, on  the  present  occasion,  as  calculated,  in  the  judgment 
of  your  preacher,  to  an-est  the  prevailing  disposition  of  the 
present  day  to  strip  the  religion  of  the  gospel  of  its  peculiar 
distinctions  and  external  rites,  to  divest  them  of  the  sacred 
character  of  divine  appointments,  equally  bound  upon  our 
observance  with  the  body  of  revealed  doctrine,  and  to  reduce 
the  Christian  system  to  the  nakedness  of  an  abstraction  which 
may  safely  be  modified  according  to  the  convenience  or  the 
caprice  of  individual  inclination.  That  the  influence  of  som©, 
such  mistaken  principle  is  at  work  in  the  world  is  rendered! 
certain,  not  only  by  the  existence  of  those  divisions  which 


OF  CHRIST   CHUKCH,   EALEIGH.  185 

deform  the  beautj,  and  destroy  the  unity  of  the  gospel,  but 
still  more  by  the  indifference  and  disregard  manifested  by 
the  great  majority  of  our  population  to  any  mode  or  form, 
under  which  it  has  been  attempted  to  render  Christianity 
more  palatable  to  the  pride  and  prejudice  of  a  depraved  na- 
ture. That  this  exists  to  an  alarming  degree,  in  all  Christian 
lands,  cannot  justly  be  questioned;  and  to  account  for  it,  we 
must  resort  either  to  absolute  infidelity,  or  to  indifference,  on 
the  grounds  just  mentioned.  And  the  consciences  of  all 
present,  who  are,  unhappily  for  themselves  and  for  their 
country,  unconnected  with  the  gospel,  can  best  witness  to 
which  of  these  two  causes  their  disregard  of  God's  gracious 
and  only  provision  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  is  to  be  refer- 
red. For  it  is  not  my  province  to  judge,  my  hearers;  but  it 
is  strictly  so  to  give  you  grounds  on  which  to  examine  and 
judge  yourselves. 

Of  absolute  infidelity — that  is,  of  actual  rejection  of  reve- 
lation— none  present,  I  trust,  stand  convicted  to  themselves. 
On  the  contrarv ,  I  am  almost  sure,  that  belief  of  the  Scriptures, 
as  a  revelation  from  God  for  the  good  of  mankind,  would  be 
the  serious  confession  of  all  who  hear  me.  To  the  delusion, 
then,  that  the  great  purj)ose  of  the  gospel,  in  their  eternal 
salvation,  can  be  answered  without  the  external  profession, 
the  practice,  the  fellowship,  and  the  sacraments  of  religion, 
must  this  neglect  be  referred.  Otherwise,  rational  beings 
must  be  convicted  of  the  desperate  folly  of  deliberately  choos- 
ing and  following  out  their  own  perdition. 

Yet,  my  dear  friends  and  fellow  sinners,  what  but  per- 
dition of  soul  and  body  in  hell,  must  be  the  consequence  to 
those  who,  under  the  "grace  and  truth  which  came  by  Jesus 
Cheist,"  pass  their  short  and  uncertain  period  of  probation 
and  improvement  for  eternity  unconnected  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  gospel,  and  regardless  of  the  conditions  on  which 
alone  the  mercy  of  God  is  tendered  to  a  world  of  sinners? 
Kemember,  I  beseech  you,  in  the  first  place,  "that  God  hath 
no  need  of  the  sinful  man;"  therefore,  salvation  is  wholly  of 
grace.  "Of  his  mercy  he  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regen- 
eration, and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  In  the  second 
place,  remember  that  "God  now  commandeth  all  men,  every 
where,  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel;"  because  "he  hath 


186  A   SEEMON,   PREACHED   AT   THE   CONSECRATION 

appointed  a  clay  in  tlie  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness."  And  in  the  third  place,  bear  in  mind,  that 
"except  a  man  be  born  again,"  except  he  be  "born  of  water 
and  of  the  Spirit,"  and  do  "eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood" 
of  the  divine  Saviour,  in  the  sacraments  of  his  death  and 
resurrection,  this  salvation  is  unattainable.  And  most  ear- 
nestly and  affectionately  are  we  cautioned  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  the  word  of  God,  not  to  be  wise  in  our  own  conceits — not 
to  listen  to  the  self-righteous  pride  of  our  corrupt  hearts, 
tempting  us  to  hew  out  cisterns  of  salvation  for  ourselves,  and 
by  departing  from  prescribed  conditions,  to  cast  away  from 
our  hope  the  precious  promises  of  God,  ratified  in  the  blood 
of  Christ. 

II.  Secondly,  from  this  passage  of  Scripture,  in  connexion 
with  the  building  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  we  are  led  to 
inquire  into  the  design  and  obligation  of  ritual  and  cere- 
monial appointments  in  religion. 

I  think  it  must  be  admitted,  my  brethren  and  friends,  that 
in  the  degree  in  which  the  circumstantials  of  any  positive  in- 
stitution are  respected,  will  the  institution  itself  be  esteemed, 
or  lightly  regarded.  The  inquiry,  therefore,  I  trust,  will  not 
be  without  its  use,  as  a  subject  of  general  edification  on  the 
great  concern  which  I  wish  to  impress  upon  your  consciences 
this  day. 

It  is  very  true,  that  though  religion  is  in  itself  prior  to,  and 
independent  of,  all  ritual  appointments,  and  external  accom- 
modations— yet,  never  in  this  world  has  it  been  presented  to 
mankind  abstracted  from  outward  and  visible  observances, 
as  a  part,  and  an  essential  part  too,  of  every  dispensation  re- 
vealed to  the  faith  and  obedience  of  redeemed  man.  The 
patriarchal,  the  Jewish,  and  the  Christian  dispensations,  of 
"grace  given  us,  in  Christ  Jesus,  before  the  world  began," 
had,  and  have,  each  of  them,  peculiar  rites  and  positive  in- 
stitutions, which,  under  some  variety  of  modification,  have 
continued  integral  parts  of  each  succeeding  dispensation  of 
revealed  religion;  and  as  their  origin  was  the  same,  so  was 
the  purpose  they  were  intended  to  answer,  in  the  economy 
of  divine  grace. 

In  their  origin  they  come  from  God;  they  are  of  his  ap- 
pointment; and  only  as  such  can  they  be  the  objects  of  faith 


OF   CHBIST   CHUKCH,   EALEIGH.  187 

to  rational  beings,  or  be  required  of  them  as  religious  duties. 
Their  obligation,  therefore,  is  supreme,  and  binds  every  soul 
under  the  particular  dispensation  to  a  faithful  observance  of 
what  is  thus  appointed.  Of  this,  we  have  a  very  instructive 
example  given  us  in  the  earliest  record  of  the  worship  of  his 
Creator  enjoined  upon  fallen  man.  The  rite  of  sacrifice,  be- 
ing the  chief  external  observance  of  the  patriarchal  religion, 
and  the  animal  and  the  manner  of  the  offering  being  expressly 
designated,  a  departure  on  the  part  of  Cain,  the  first-born 
from  Adam,  from  what  the  Almighty  had  prescribed  for  his 
observance,  was  visited  by  rejection  of  his  unbidden  offering 
— jjresenting  an  awful  warning  to  will  worshippers  of  every 
age,  and  a  most  pointed  condemnation  of  those  many  inven- 
tions of  men,  wherewith  the  gospel  is  both  disfigured  and 
impeded. 

The  positive  institutions,  common  to  every  dispensation  of 
revealed  religion,  are  five  in  number — viz:  The  day  of  rest, 
or  Sabbath,  or  Lord's  day;  as  it  has  successively  been  called, 
in  commemoration  of  the  finishing  of  the  works  of  creation; 
marriage,  or  the  union  of  one  man  and  one  woman  in  holy 
matrimony;  the  rite  of  sacrifice;  the  priestly  office,  to  minister 
in  holy  things;  and  the  temple,  or  place  set  apart  for  the 
public  offices  of  religion.  And  by  considering  the  design  or 
purpose  of  Almighty  God  in  the  appointment  of  the  three 
last  mentioned,  as  more  directl}^  connected  with  the  subject, 
we  shall  more  clearly  understand  their  obligation  for  our 
observance. 

1.  And  first,  of  the  rite  of  sacrifice  as  a  divine  institution. 

Now  this  was  evidently,  in  the  first  place,  to  show  to  the 
sinner  the  utter  hopelessness  of  his  condition,  from  any  thing 
in  himself, — that  he  had  become  unworthy  to  approach  God, 
even  as  a  worshipper.  And  that,  as  his  own  life  was  for- 
feited to  the  divine  justice,  by  his  disobedience,  he  could 
never  henceforward  be  heard  or  accepted,  but  through  a  di- 
vine Mediator. 

In  the  second  place,  the  appointment  of  an  animal  slain 
by  the  shedding  of  its  blood,  was  intended  to  keep  alive 
among  mankind  the  knowledge  and  effect  of  the  first  and 
most  gracious  promise  made  to  fallen  man:  that  in  the  fullness 
of  time  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  overcome  the  enemy 


188  A  SERMON,   PEEAOHED  AT  THE  CONSECBATION 

of  the  human  race,  deliver  mankind  from  the  power  and  do- 
minion of  sin,  and  by  offering  an  adequate  atonement  to  the 
offended  justice  of  God,  restore  them  to  his  favor,  and  recover 
for  them  the  bright  inheritance  which  was  forfeited  by  sin. 

And,  in  the  third  place,  to  furnish  a  visible  channel  or 
means  of  divine  grace,  through  which  only  can  fallen,  spirit- 
ually dead  creatures,  be  regenerated;  that  is,  restored  to  moral 
competency,  and  rendered  capable  of  religious  attainments. 

This  is  a  design,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  which,  while 
the  world  shall  continue  to  be  peopled  with  successive  gene- 
rations of  sinners,  must  needs  be  continued  in  operation;  and 
only  as  it  is  truly  realized,  and  heartily  embraced  and  fol- 
lowed out,  can  those  successive  generations  escape  from  the 
curse  and  condemnation  which  rest  upon  unbelief,  with  the 
superadded  guilt  of  rejected  salvation. 

2.  Secondly — Of  the  priestly  office. 

To  minister  in  holy  things,  and  especially  to  serve  at  the 
altar,  offering  gifts  and  sacrifices  to  God  for  man,  is  the  na- 
tural right  of  no  sinful  mortal.  It  must  be  conferred  by  the 
Almighty,  and  be  certified  to  be  so  conferred,  not  only  to 
avoid  presumptuous  sin  on  the  part  of  the  offender,  but  to 
give  certainiy  and  effect  to  those  outward  and  visible  reli- 
gious ordinances,  which  by  the  appointment  of  God,  have  an 
inward  and  spiritual  grace  annexed  to  their  due  administra- 
tion and  reception.  From  the  beginning,  therefore,  it  has 
been  so  ordered,  that  "no  man  taketh  this  honor  unto  him- 
self." Under  the  patriarchal  period,  the  priestly  office  was 
the  privilege  of  the  first-born  son.  Under  the  Jewish  econ- 
omy, a  particular  tribe,  that  of  Levi,  was  set  apart  by  divine 
direction  for  the  service  of  religion  generally;  and  in  that 
tribe  a  particular  family,  that  of  Aaron,  was  specially  select- 
ed for  the  succession  to  the  highest  grade  of  the  priesthood, 
as  then  modified.  And  under  the  Christian  dispensation, 
the  Author  and  finisher  of  our  faith  selected  the  twelve  apos- 
tles, who  were  eye  witnesses  of  his  resurrection  and  ascension 
into  heaven,  as  the  visible  and  verifiable  root  from  which  the 
succession  of  the  Christian  priesthood  should  be  derived,  to 
the  end  of  the  world.  When,  therefore,  we  consider  the  in- 
separable connexion  betwixt  a  sacrifice  or  a  sacrament,  as 
divine  institutions,  and  a  priest  or  divinely  authorized  per- 


OF   CHKIST   CHURCH,   EALEIGH.  189 

son,  to  offer  them  to  God  on  the  part  of  others;  when  we  re- 
flect on  the  signal  manner  in  which  the  contempt  of  this  high 
distinction — as  in  the  case  of  Esau — or  the  invasion  of  its  sa- 
cred rights — as  in  the  case  of  Corah  and  his  company  in  the 
wilderness,  and  of  king  Uzziah,  who  was  smitten  with  lepro- 
sy because  he  attempted  to  burn  incense  upon  the  altar — 
was  vindicated;  the  obligation  to  reverence  the  oflice,  and  to 
jDrofit  by  this  provision  of  the  wisdom  of  God  for  the  regular 
and  effectual  administration  and  participation  of  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  gospel,  must  be  understood  and  felt  by  every 
serious  jDcrson. 

It  has  indeed  been  contended,  that  the  jjriestly  oflice 
ceased  with  the  Jewish  dispensation;  and  that,  as  there  are 
no  longer  proper  sacrifices  to  be  offered  up  to  God,  the  min- 
isterial oflice  under  the  gospel  is  not  a  proper  priesthood — 
not  to  be  estimated  according  to  what  was  particular  to  it 
under  the  law. 

Into  this  question  I  enter  not  on  the  present  occasion,  fur- 
ther than  to  observe,  that  the  assertion  itself,  and  the  argu- 
ment constructed  for  its  support,  are  derived  from  the  neces- 
sity of  those  who,  in  comparatively  modern  times,  have  as- 
sumed the  ministerial  oflice  without  due  warrant  and  author- 
ity: and  that  the  whole  is  founded  on  the  erroneous  notion 
that  the  priestly  character  is  confined  to  the  acts  of  sacrificing 
and  offering  the  victim;  whereas,  in  truth,  the  priestly  cha- 
racter is  derived  altogether  from  its  being  a  representative 
oflice,  instituted  to  administer  the  things  of  God  to  and  with 
men;  dependent  wholly  on  the  mediatorial  scheme  of  reli- 
gion, to  continue  until  that  scheme  shall  be  completed,  and 
of  the  same  sacredness  and  obligation,  whether  the  sacrifice 
offered  be  proper,  as  of  a  slain  animal,  or  symbolical,  as  in 
the  eucharist.  Every  priest,  lawfully  called  and  set  apart 
to  his  holy  office,  from  the  first-born  under  the  patriarchal 
dispensation,  to  the  apostolic  succession  of  the  present  day, 
has  been,  and  was  intended  to  be,  a  representative  of  our 
great  High  Priest,  the  man  Chkist  Jesus.  The  material  sa- 
crifices of  slain  beasts,  and  purification  by  the  sprinkling  of 
actual  blood,  have  indeed  been  abrogated  by  the  offering  up 
of  the  body  of  Christ,  once  for  aU.  But  the  representative 
sacrifice  of  his  death,  and  of  the  purification  of  his  atoning 


190  A   SEEMON,   PREACHED   AT   TUE   CONSECRATION 

blood,  still  continue  to  be  administered  in  the  sacraments  of 
the  Church;  and  derive  their  whole  benefit  to  ns  as  instituted 
means  of  grace — receive  their  true  character  as  sacraments 
— from  the  authoritj^  to  consecrate  and  administer  them  as 
divine  appointments. 

God  hath  indeed  most  wonderfully  provided  Himself  and 
us  with  a  Lamb  for  a  burnt  oifering.  This  "Lamb  of  God, 
which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  the  worthy  Chris- 
^tian  communicant  discerns  by  faith,  as  slain  for  him,  in  the 
sacrifice  of  the  cross.  By  faith  he  offers  this  to  God,  through 
the  appointed  channel  of  the  Christian  priesthood,  as  the 
substitute  for  his  own  forfeited  life,  a  spiritual  sacrifice,  ac- 
ceptable to  God;  and  partaking  of  the  bread  of  life,  by  eating 
the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  the  great  sin  offering,  un- 
der the  appointed  symbols  of  consecrated  bread  and  wine, 
he  derives  therefrom  the  strength  and  consolation  which 
faitli  imparts  to  the  soul,  and  that  measure  of  divine  grace 
which  enables  him  to  hold  fast  his  profession  without  waver- 
ing, and  to  "press  towards  the  mark  for  the  j)rize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

3.  Thirdly — Of  the  temple,  or  place  solemnly  set  apart  for 
the  public  offices  of  religion. 

That  proper  accommodations  for  the  performance  of  the 
public  duties  of  religion  are  indispensable  to  a  visible  society 
of  professing  believers,  we  are  taught,  my  brethren,  not  only 
by  the  precepts  and  example  of  former  dispensations,  but  by 
the  reason  of  the  thing.  As  we  are  commanded  "not  to  for- 
sake the  assembling  of  ourselves  together,"  there  must  be  a 
suitable  place-to  assemble  at.  And  as  the  Christian  sacrifice 
of  the  Eucharist  is  continually  to  be  offered,  "until  our  Lord 
shall  come  again,"  there  must  be  an  altar  and  a  priesthood 
for  the  sacred  purpose.  In  the  infancy  of  the  world,  indeed, 
and  before  it  became  expedient  to  institute  the  Church  as  a 
visible  society,  every  family,  every  particular  household,  pos- 
sessed an  altar,  and  a  priesthood  thereat  to  serve,  in  the  per- 
son of  the  head  of  the  family  or  of  the  first-born  son.  But  when 
the  corruption  of  religion,  the  increase  of  idolatry  and  wick- 
edness, and  the  approach  of  the  appointed  time  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  original  promise,  rendered  it  necessary  to  select  a 
particular  family  from  which  the  Messiah  should  spring;  the 


OF   CHKIST   CHUECH,   EALEIGH.  l&l 

Chiircli,  in  its  distinctive  and  particular  cliaracter,  was  called 
into  being,  and  constituted  tlie  sole  depository  of  the  revealed 
will,  prescribed  worship,  precious  promises,  and  enlivening* 
presence  of  their  God  and  Saviour.  And  when,  in  process 
of  time,  the  increase  of  their  number  and  their  deliverance 
from  Eg'jptian  bondage,  rendered  a  place  of  public  assembly 
for  the  performance  of  their  religious  services  necessary,  God 
was  pleased  to  command  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  in  the 
wilderness,  and  afterwards,  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  as 
habitations  for  his  holy  name;  as  places  to  receive  the  offer- 
ings of  his  worshipper,  and  to  dispense  his  blessings  to  his 
people,  through  the  divinely  appointed  office  of  the  priest- 
hood: as  he  also  was  pleased  to  manifest  his  acceptance  of  the 
buildings,  by  a  visible  display  of  his  glory  at  their  respective 
dedications. 

In  like  manner,  when  our  blessed  Loed  had  purchased  to 
himself  a  kingdom,  by  finishing  the  work  which  his  Father 
had  given  him  to  do,  he  founded  his  Church,  his  mystical 
body,  and  sent  forth  his  servants,  the  apostles,  to  teach  all 
nations — to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  a  reconciled  God,  of 
the  pardon  of  sin,  and  of  eternal  life  through  faith  in  his 
name;  and  to  receive  into  his  Church  by  baptism  all  who 
should  embrace  their  doctrine.     These,  his  faithful  servants, 
accordingly  went  forth  and  preached  every  where;  "God, 
also,  bearing  them  witness,  both  in  signs  and  wonders,  and 
with  divers  miracles  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,,  according 
to  his  own  will; — so  that  believers  were  the  more  added  to 
the  Church."     And  as  their  numbers  increased,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  times  permitted,  they^  too,  erected  places- 
of  worship,  and  solemnly  dedicated  them  to  the  service  of 
Almighty  God.     It  is  true,  we  read  of  no  miracles  indicating 
the  acceptance  of  their  houses  of  prayer,  on  the  part  of  Al- 
mighty God;  neither  have  we  any  certain  information  of  fixed 
places  for  the  performance  of  Christian  worship,  during  the 
period  that  miracles  were  ■\vrought  in  confirmation  of  the  gos- 
pel.    While  exposed  to  the  persecuting  Heathen  power. 
Christians  were  obliged  to  meet  secretly  and  as  they  could^ 
for  the  performance  of  their  sacred  solemnities.  Yet,  whether 
in  private  houses,  in  the  recesses  of  some  forest,  or  in  the 
concealment  of  some  cavern  of  the  earth,  they  were  still  the 


193  A   SERMON,    TEEACHED   AT   THE   CONSECRATION 

Cliurcli,  the  peculium  of  God;  and  wlietlier  in  Rome  or  Jeru- 
salem, in  Greece  or  in  l^gvpt,  in  Asia  or  in  Africa,  they  col- 
lectively formed  that  one  visible  body,  of  which  Christ  is 
the  Supreme  Head  and  Almighty  Saviour;  of  which  every 
national  Church,  derived  from  the  apostles  of  Christ,  is  a 
branch,  and  every  particular  congregation  a  member;  against 
which  no  weapon  formed  shall  prosper;  against  which  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail;  and  with  which  Christ  hath  pro- 
mised to  ho. 2^'^'^sent^  by  his  Spirit,  "to  the  end  of  the  world." 

Such,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  is  the  gracious  and  merci- 
ful provision  which  the  wisdom  of  God  hath  made  in  the  ex- 
ternal and  positive  institutions  of  religion,  for  the  furtherance 
and  help  of  our  faith.  A  Church,  a  ministry,  and  sacra- 
ments, are  indispensable  to  the  religious  condition  of  fallen, 
sinful  beings,  reprieved  from  condemnation,  and  placed  in  the 
hand  of  a  Divine  Mediator  for  recovery  and  salvation.  The 
whole  economy  of  grace,  therefore,  is  so  constructed  as  to 
keep  before  their  eyes,  in  the  boldest  relief,  this  master- 
principle  of  encouragement,  exertion,  and  success;  and  with  a 
design  so  gracious,  a  provision  so  excellent,  and  an  obliga- 
tion so  commanding,  it  is  deeply  to  be  lamented  that  so  few, 
comparatively,  are  drawn  by  these  cords  of  love  to  the  Father 
of  Mercies,  for  that  eternal  life  which  is  in  his  only  begotten 
Son — that  under  the  light  of  the  gospel  multitudes  of  ac- 
countable immortals  pass  through  their  day  of  trial  and  grace 
without  opening  their  eyes  to  the  light — and,  that  under  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  still  greater  numl3ers  resist  the  con- 
victions of  divine  truth,  and  say  to  their  consciences,  "Go 
thy  way  for  this  time;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I 
will  call  for  thee." 

III.  In  the  third  and  last  place — From  this  passage  of 
Scripture  we  have  confirmed  in  a  very  striking  manner  the 
reasonable  and  unchangeable  conditions  on  which  alone  the 
promises  of  God  can  be  attained  by  us.  The  conditions  are, 
la  full,  unreserved,  and  sincere  obedience  to  the  revealed  will 
of  God — a  thankful  reception  of  his  offered  mercy,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  a  diligent  cultivation  of  the 
means  of  grace,  for  the  attainment  of  that  "holiness,  without 
which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 

"And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Solomon,  saying,  Con- 


OF   CHKIST   CHURCH,   KALEIGH.  193 

cerning  this  house  which  thou  art  in  building,  if  thou  wilt 
walk  in  my  statutes,  and  execute  my  judgments,  and  keep 
all  my  commandments,  to  walk  in  them;  then  will  I  perform 
my  word  with  thee,  which  I  spake  unto  David  thy  father: 
and  I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  not 
forsake  my  people,  Israel." 

These  are  the  conditions  on  which,  to  you  also,  my  friends 
and  hearers,  as  to  Israel  of  old,  the  promises  of  God  are  sus- 
pended; and  you  must  fulfil  the  conditions,  on  your  part, 
otherwise  you  forfeit  the  glorious  reward  held  out  to  your 
hopes.  Revealed  religion,  remember,  is  a  matter  of  strict 
covenant  engagement,  and  to  every  baptized  person  is  strictly 
a  personal  contract.  In  this  contract  you  have  solemnly  en- 
gaged, on  your  part,  to  "renounce  the  devil,  the  world,  and 
the  flesh;"  and  "'diligently  to  keep  God's  holy  command- 
ments:" and  on  his  part,  your  Heavenly  Father  hath  engaged 
to  give  you  the  assistance  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  enable  you 
to  perform  your  engagement;  and  to  reward  your  faith  and 
obedience  with  eternal  life.  To  expect  it,  therefore,  on  any 
other  conditions,  is  the  grievous  folly  of  expecting  to  reap 
where  you  have  not  sowed,  and  to  be  transferred  to  a  situ- 
ation for  which  you  have  made  no  preparation. 

That  the  promises  of  God  are  conditioned  on  our  faithful- 
ness to  the  baptismal  engagements,  is  an  awakening  thought 
at  all  times:  and  particularly  so  on  the  present  occasion,  my 
brethren  of  the  Church,  when  the  cloud  which  has  so  long 
hovered  over  your  prospects  appears  to  be  withdrawn,  and 
the  promise  of  a  brighter  day  to  be  dawning  around  you. 
Almost  against  hope,  and  through  various  disappointments, 
the  zeal  and  liberality  of  a  few  praiseworthy  individuals  have 
succeeded  in  erecting  a  commodious  and  respectable  build- 
ing, in  which  to  worship  the  God  of  your  fathers  and  to  par- 
ticipate in  those  sacred  ordinances  which  are  the  divinely 
appointed  channels  of  grace  to  your  souls.  This  building 
you  have  surrendered  to  God,  and  called  upon  me,  in  virtue 
of  mine  office,  to  consecrate  and  set  it  apart,  exclusively,  to 
the  worship  and  service  of  his  holy  name.  This  duty  I  have 
performed  this  day,  before  many  witnesses,  and  before  God 
the  Judge  of  all.  I  have  laid  before  you  the  nature  of  your 
religion — the  design  and  obligation  of  the  positive  institu- 


19^4:     A  SERMON,  PREACHED  AT  THE  CONSECBATION" 

tions  connected  with  it — and  the  conditions  on  which  alone 
can  this  or  any  other  religious  advantage  be  truly  profitable 
to  you.  Before  these  witnesses,  then,  and  before  that  heart- 
searching  Eye,  which  now  looks  down  upon  us,  I  charge  you. 
to  bear  in  mind  and  faithfully  to  fulfil  the  conditions  on 
which  only  will  his  promised  blessings  continue  with  you. 
Bear  in  mind,  my  brethren,  that  this  house  is  now  separated. 
from  all  unhallowed  and  common  uses.  Be  diligent  there- 
fore, to  discharge  from  youi'  hearts  the  unhallowed  love  of 
the  world,  and  from  your  lives  the  too,  too  frequent  con- 
formity with  its  vain  and  vicious  practices;  lest  by  your 
irreverent  coming  into  his  presence,  you  protkne  that  which 
is  now  "holiness  unto  the  Lord."  "Keep  thy  foot  when  thou 
goest  to  the  house  of  God,"  says  the  wise  preacher  and  king 
of  Israel  to  his  people.  That  is,  prepare  for  the  solemn  ser- 
vice of  God,  by  searching  your  hearts,  and  trying  your  spirits^ 
and  examining  your  lives,  in  the  retirement  of  your  private 
devotions.  This  will  preserve  you  from  "ofiering  the  sacri- 
fice of  fools"  in  a  mere  unmeaning  lip  service — will  enable 
and  prepare  you  to  pray  with  the  understanding  for  the  re- 
lief of  particular  wants,  and  with  the  fervency  of  spirit  for 
general  blessings.  "Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye 
separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  things 
and  I  will  receive  you;  and  I  will  be  a  father  unto  you,  and 
ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty." 
And  thus  preached  the  inspired  apostle  St.  Paul,  to  the 
fashional>le  Christians  of  the  dissolute  city  of  Corinth.  From 
his  Epistles  to  them,  it  would  appear  that  they  were  fond  of 
the  shows  and  feasts  made  in  the  idolatrous  temples;  of  the 
exhibitions  and  games  presented  in  the  amphitheatre  and 
circus;  and  of  the  other  vanities  in  which  wealth,  idleness, 
and  irreligion,  sport  away  the  burden  of  their  superfluity. 
But  such,  St.  Paul  well  knew,  "was  not  the  spot  of  God's/ 
children;"  and  to  reclaim  them  from  this  vicious  and  ruinous 
conformity  to  the  world,  he  showed  them,  by  ai'guments  of 
reason,  how  every  way  inconsistent  such  conduct  was  with 
their  holy  profession.  "What  communion  hath  light  with 
darkness?  and  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial?  and 
what  agreement  hath  the  temple  of  God  with  idols?"  And 
to  stir  them  up  to  higher  and  better  things,  he  sets  before 


OF  OHEIST   CHCTRCH,  EALEIGH.  195 

them  the  promises  of  God,  and  reminds  them  of  the  high 
privileges  thej  were  entitled  to  as  his  adopted  children.  And 
the  same  precious  promises,  and  the  same  exalted  privileges, 
are  yours,  my  brethren;  but  on  the  same  conditions  of  dis- 
tinct separation  from  the  vanity  and  ungodliness  of  the  times. 
Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  "touch  not,  taste  not,  handle 
not;"  but  "come  out"  from  among  the  votaries  of  the  world, 
"and  be  separate;"  as  in  profession,  so  likewise  in  practice. 
Study  to  "adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things," 
keeping  ever  before  you  "the  hope  of  your  high  calling," 
and  the  unchangeable  conditions  on  which  only  "the  promises 
of  God  are  Yea  and  Amen  to  us,  in  Christ  Jesus." 

I  come  now  to  apply  what  has  been  said. 

If  I  have  not  failed  altogether  in  my  object,  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  the  attention  with  which  I  have  been  favored, 
must  already  have  suggested  this  reflection  to  many,  who 
are  yet  strangers  to  the  power  and  influence  of  religion: — 
"Why  have  I  been  so  long  negligent  of  that  which  is  of  such 
infinite  impoitance  and  immeasurable  obligation?"  And  have' 
you  been  able,  my  brother,  to  answer  the  question  otherwise 
than  by  confessing  it  to  be  by  your  own  proper  fault?     And 
if  not,  what  is  the  improvement  which  both  reason  and  in- 
terest will  tell  you  should  be  made  of  the  discovery?    Surely 
it  must  be  the  part  of  every  ingenuous  mind,  which  has  been 
betrayed  into  carelessness  and  indifference,  hitherto,  on  the 
great  interests  of  eternity,  or  into  an  erroneous  view  of  re- 
vealed religion,  to  rouse  from  the  delusion,  and  to  search  and 
look  into  those  things  which  are  presented  to  its  considera- 
tion, with  such  a  show  of  reason,  and  on  such  high  authority. 
Surely  it  may  be  expected,  that  those  for  whom  a  gracious 
God  hath  done  so  much,  will  at  least  inquire  what  their  part 
and  duty  is  as  redeemed  to  God,  called  to  the  knowledge  of 
bis  grace,  and  furnished  for  the  attainment  'of  eternal  life, 
through  faith  in  the  Loed  Jesus  Cheist.     Otherwise,  eternal 
life  and  endless  felicity  in  the  presence  of  God  'San  have  no 
attractions,  and  everlasting  misery  and  despair  np  terrors,  to 
rational  beings. 

Yet,  reasonable  as  this  expectation  surely  is — and  God 
grant  it  may  be  realized  even  in  one  insfifcnce  this  day — I  fear 
it  will  be  in  vain.    Practical  unbelief  is  so  common — disre- 


196       A   SEEMON,    PKEACHED   AT   THE   CONSECEATION,  &C. 

gard  and  indifference  to  religion  so  general — and  the  love  of 
the  world,  and  exclusive  engagement  with  its  pursuits  so 
prevalent;  as  to  stifle  and  silence  the  occasional  awakenings 
of  the  conscience.  But  let  me  entreat  you,  my  dear  hearers, 
to  reflect  where  this  disregard  of  God,  and  of  your  immortal 
souls,  must  end — to  consider  how  conscience  w'ill  be  quieted 
"when  it  awakes  upon  a  death-bed,  under  the  agonies  of  an 
unprovided-for  eternity — under  the  remorse  of  abused  mer- 
cies, disregarded  warnings,  and  a  rejected  Saviour.  O,  that 
I  could  raise  up  a  spirit  of  consideration  and  inquiry  on  this 
unspeakable  interest.  Surely  there  is  yet  left  to  us  so  much 
of  Christian  knowledge,  of  enlightened  reason,  and  of  moral 
worth,  as  might  form  a  wall  of  defence  for  what  remains  of 
Christian  principle  and  Christian  practice,  could  it  but  be 
prevailed  upon  to  step  out  and  avow  itself  as  on  the  Lord's 
side.  But  alas!  my  brethren,  we  must  take  up  the  lamenta- 
tion of  the  prophet,  over  Israel  of  old — "The  whole  Tiead  is 
sick" — the  learned,  the  noble,  and  the  wealthy  of  the  land — 
the  heads  of  society,  with  a  few  shining  exceptions — for  which 
God  be  praised — are  "ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ." 
"The  whole  Jieart  is  faint" — the  middle  class  of  society,  the 
Jieart  and  strength  of  our  country,  are  doubting  and  divided, 
scattered  and  peeled  by  every  wind  of  doctrine  which  can 
blow  from  misguided  zeal,  misplaced  ignorance,  honest  er- 
ror, and  dishonest  deceit;  while  all  helow^  the  poor  and  the 
ignorant  of  our  population,  is  "full  of  the  wounds  and  bruises 
andputrifying  sores"  of  blasphemy,  drunkenness,  and  sensu- 
ality. Oh!  what  an  account  has  this  every  w  ay  favored  land  to 
give  in  to  God  the  judge  of  all!  But  it  must  be  given,  re- 
member, my  dear  hearers,  by  its  iyidividual  population;  for 
nations^  as  such,  cannot  answer  at  the  judgment  seat;  and  in 
the  dread  account  which  awaits  this  generation,  the  influence 
of  example  will  not  be  overlooked. 

And  may  God  in  mercy,  impress  his  truth  upon  every 
heart  present. 

Now  to  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  &c. 


AN  EPISCOPAL  CHARGE 


DELITERED    TO    THE 


CONVENTION  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 
Assembled  in  Washington,  N.  C,  in  April  1825. 


The  period  lias  arrived,  my  brethren,  when  personal  ob- 
servation of  the  state  of  this  diocese  enables  me  to  fulfil  a 
duty  of  my  station,  in  an  Address,  by  way  of  Charge,  to  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  North 
Carolina;  and  I  very  gladly  embrace  the  opportunity  of  this 
annual  assemblage  of  the  representatives  of  the  Church  in 
Convention,  to  present  to  their  consideration  those  particu- 
lars which  are  of  greatest  importance,  at  present,  to  the  pro- 
gress and  success  of  the  cause  we  have  in  hand. 

From  the  information  given  to  this  Convention  in  my  Epis- 
copal Journal,  and  the  subsequent  Parochial  Reports,  the 
gradual  improvement  in  the  external  circumstances  of  the 
Ciiurch  is  very  evident;  and  it  is  no  more  than  a  reasonable 
expectation,  that  a  continuance  of  the  same  course  of  labor 
and  diligence  in  the  clergy,  and  attention  on  the  part  of  the 
laity,  will  be  followed  by  a  like  favorable  result. 

There  are  some  causes,  however,  more  remote  from  gene- 
ral observation,  which  operate  injuriously  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Church,  but  which  are  in  the  reach  of  a  remedy, 
and  which  it  is  our  joint  duty  to  endeavor  to  remove. 

The  first  I  shall  mention  is  want  of  information  in  the 
people  at  large,  and  in  too  great  a  degree  among  those  of  our 
own  communion,  on  the  distinctive  character  of  the 
CHURCH  of  Christ,  and  the  obligations  which  thence  follow 
to  man,  thus  furnished  with  this  means  of  grace. 

That  it  exists  in  a  very  extensive  and  injurious  degree,  is 
a  point  which  needs  no  proof;  it  being  the  daily  experience 
of  most  of  those  who  hear  me.     And  while  it  can  be  account- 


198 


AN  EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE. 


ed  for  very  satisfactorily,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  from  the  causes 
producing  it  that  we  shall  best  learn  what  is  most  proper  to 
counteract  it. 

We  have,  then,  but  to  direct  our  attention  to  the- state  of 
things  produced  by  the  downfall  of  the  Church  at  the  period 
of  our  revolution,  and  to  what  has  followed  progressively 
since,  until  within  a  very  few  years,  to  find  ample  means  of 
accounting  for  this  state  of  the  public  mind.  The  Episcopal 
Church,  never  very  strong  in  this  State,  was  reduced  by  that 
great  event  to  a  condition  of  actual  silence.  Political  feel- 
ings were  associated  with  its  very  name,  which  operated  as 
a  complete  bar  to  any  useful  or  comfortable  exercise  of  duty, 
by  the  very  few  clergymen,  perhaps  not  more  than  three  or 
four,  who  were  left. 

The  public  instruction  of  the  people  in  religion,  therefore^ 
fell  exclusively  into  other  hands,  and  into  hands  disposed, 
both  by  principle  and  interest,  to  complete  the  ruin  of  the 
Church;  and,  by  their  particular  systems  of  doctrine,  preclu- 
ded from  treating,  with  any  precision,  that  branch  of  Chris- 
tian edification  which  refers  to  the  unity  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  its  distinctive  character  and  religious  purpose,  and 
to  the  authority  of  the  Christian  ministry,  as  an  integral  part 
of  that  system  of  faith  and  order  revealed  in  the  Gospel.  On 
such  points  of  doctrine,  those  who  have  separated  from  the 
Church  are  necessarily  silent;  or,  if  they  are  occasionally 
hinted  at,  it  is  in  such  vague  and  indefinite  terms  as  tend 
rather  to  obscure  than  to  elucidate  the  subject.     It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at,  then,  my  brethren,  that  these  doctrines,  as 
held  by  the  Episcopal   Church,  should  gradually  lose  their 
impression  on  those  who  entertained  tliem,  be  lost  sight  of 
by  the  peojjle  at  large,  and  at  length  be  forgotten;  and  that 
a  prescription  of  forty  years  should  possess  an  influence  dif- 
ficult to  dislodge  from  the  minds  of  those  who  have  been 
taught  to  view  every  thing  relating  to  the  external  order  of 
the  Church  as  unimjx.irtant  and  non-essential.     That  this  is 
the  more  general  state  of  tlie  public   mind,  I  have  all  the 
certainty  which  observation  and  declared  opinion  can  give; 
and  the  very  painful  knuwledge,  that  many  who  call  them- 
selves Episcopalians  cherish  such  every  way  inconsistent  no- 
tions, and  are  further  led  into  this  error  by  the  modern  but 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAKGE. 

erroneous  views  of  charity  and  liberal  opinions.  While  this 
state  of  things  continues,  we  shall  deceive  ourselves  egre- 
giouslv  if  we  expect  any  real  or  extensive  increase  of  the 
Church;  our  numbers  may  indeed  be  added  to,  but  the  nu- 
merical  is  not  always  the  real  strength  either  of  the  Church 
or  of  an  army. 

On  you,  then,  my  brethren  of  the  clergy,  will  devolve  the 
imperious  duty  of  so  framing  and  directing  your  public  min- 
istrations, as  well  as  yowr  private  instructions  among  your 
respective  charges,  as  to  embrace  these  long  neglected  but 
vital  doctrines,  and  to  explain  and  enforce  them,  from  the 
word  of  God  and  the  reason  of  the  thing,  as  parts  of  that  sj'S- 
tera  of  revealed  truth,  which  forms  but  one  whole,  and  can- 
not bo  broken  up  to  suit  the  particular  notions  of  any  man 
or  body  -of  men.  In  coming  to  this  duty,  however,  my  reve- 
rend brethren,  it  is  my  part  to  warn  you  to  set  your  faces, 
like  a  flint,  against  the  misrepresentations  and  reproaches  of 
pretended  friends  and  real  enemies,  who  will  be  sure  to  com- 
bine against  you,  and  to  throw  every  obstacle  in  the  way. 
But,  for  your  encouragement,  let  me  remind  you  that  it  is  a 
work  of  necessity,  mercy,  and  charity:  of  necessity,  as  to  the 
edilication  of  your  own  flock;  of  mercy,  as  to  those  multitudes 
who  are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge;  of  charity,  as  to 
those  who  have  embraced  the  error,  in  presenting  them  with 
the  Tneans  of  detecting  and  escaping  from  it.  But,  further, 
as  you  are  to  "declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God,"  and  to 
*'keep  back  nothing  that  is  profitable"  to  your  hearers,  so  are 
you  bound  by  your  ordination  vow,  "to  be  ready,  with  all 
faithful  diligence,  to  banish  and  drive  away  from  the  Church 
all  erroneous  and  strange  doctrines,  contrary  to  God's  word." 

Against  this,  my  admonition  to  you,  and  against  your  at- 
tention to  it,  you  must  be  prepared  to  meet  and  to  disregard 
the  odium  attached  to  a  controversial  spirit;  because  it  can 
in  no  sense  be  made  to  apply  to  the  duty  every  pastor  owes 
to  his  flock,  in  wai-ning  them  against  error,  however  that  er- 
ror may  be  sanctioned  by  others;  and  it  is  high  time  that  this 
cumiing  method,  of  giving  religious  error  time  to  establish 
itself  and  eventually  interdicting  the  only  possible  method  of 
refuting  and  overturning  it,  be  resisted.  Those,  and  those 
only,  who  have  a  miserable  interest  in  the  prevalence  of  er- 


200  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE. 

ror,  will  resort  to  such  an  untenable  argument  against  tlie 
discussion  of  those  points  on  which  the  professing  world  is 
so  divided;  and  when  it  is  evident  that  the  operation  of  this 
and  similar  deceptive  principles  is  gradually  producing  an 
indifference,  coldness,  and  deadness,  to  revealed  religion, 
which  indicate  the  temper  predicted  of  the  latter  day,  it 
surely  becomes  the  duty  of  the  ministers  of  Christ  to  "con- 
tend earnestly  for  the  faith" — to  remember  that  they  are 
watchmen  in  Zion,  and  that  if  they  give  no  warning,  the 
price  of  blood  will  be  required  at  their  hands.  But  it  does 
not  follow,  my  reverend  brothers,  that  in  exposing  error  an 
angry  and  acrimonious  temper  or  style  is  necessary.  Nor 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  to  be  avoided,  both  for  our  own  sakes 
and  the  sake  of  others;  and  the  only  just  objection  to  religious 
controversy  is  the  intemperance  into  which  it  is  too  apt  to 
degenerate.  This,  then,  is  to  be  guarded  against,  while  we 
equally  bear  in  mind,  that  the  time  is  come  when  great 
plainness  of  speech  is  required,  if  we  hope  to  rouse  men  to 
the  serious  consideration  of  those  things  which  make  for  their 
peace;  if  we  would,  indeed,  draw  that  line  between  divine 
truth  and  human  error,  whereby  all  may  profit  who  are  dis- 
posed to  come  to  the  light. 

A  second  point,  on  which  a  cloud  has  been  thrown  over 
the  public  mind,  injurious  to,  and,  in  the  end,  destructive  of, 
revealed  religion,  is  the  lowering  of  the  Scriptures  of  our 

FAITH  IN  GENERAL  ESTIMATION,  BY  HOLDING  THEM  OUT  AS  EQUAL- 
LY CONCLUSIVE  IN  FAVOR  OF  OPPOSITE  SYSTEMS  OF  DOCTRINES. 

This,  by  men  of  any  reflection,  especially  by  men  desirous 
of  some  escape  from  the  obligation  all  feel  they  are  under  to 
hear  the  word  of  God,  and  to  keep  it,  is  seized  upon  as  an 
argument  against  the  Scriptures  themselves,  as  the  only  rule 
of  faith  and  duty;  and  not,  as  in  justice  it  ought,  as  an  argu- 
ment of  the  strongest  kind  against  all  such  perversion  of 
their  use  and  neglect  of  their  warning.  Hence  the  deplora- 
ble ignorance  of  the  Bible  itself,  which  is  so  visible  among 
the  better  informed  and  more  active  part  of  society,  and  the 
consequent  indifference  to  the  claims  of  revealed  religion. 
Hence  the  approximations  to  infidelity,  in  the  various  shades 
of  unbelief  which  the  different  systems  of  morality,  as  a  sub- 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  201 

stitute  for  revealed  religion,  exhibit.  And  hence  the  preva- 
lence of  that  liberality  of  opinion  in  which  they  tolerate  eve- 
ry thing  as  true,  but  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus." 

Upon  men  of  less  information  of  mind,  and  of  little  leisure 
for  reading  and  reflection  from  the  pressure  of  laborious  oc- 
cupation, the  injury  is  doubled;  they  not  only  become  remiss 
in  procuring  and  acquainting  themselves  with  the  Bible, 
but,  from  the  example  of  those  above  them,  to  whom  they 
more  or  less  look  up,  are  encouraged  in  that  neglect  of  reli- 
gion— that  surrender  of  themselves  to  the  world  and  its  pur- 
suits, and  to  the  indulgence  of  the  flesh,  which,  like  the  worm 
at  the  root  of  Jonah's  gourd,  separates  the  hope  of  man  from 
its  foundation,  cuts  asunder  the  ligaments  of  society,  and 
blasts  and  withers  the  overshadowing  love  of  God  revealed 
in  the  gospel  of  his  Son. 

Here,  again,  my  reverend  brethren,  you  are  called  upon 
to  interpose,  and,  with  all  the  earnestness  and  diligence 
which  the  love  of  souls  and  a  deep  sense  of  accountable  duty 
can  beget,  to  meet  this  wide-spread  delusion  with  every  ar- 
gument which  revelation  and  reason  can  supply;  to  call  back 
your  flocks  to  the  only  foundation,  in  the  word  of  God;  to 
exhort  them  to  the  diligent  perusal  and  study  of  its  inspired 
wisdom;  and,  with  the  Bible  in  your  hand,  and  the  love  of 
God  in  your  heart,  explain  and  point  out  to  them  the  con- 
nexion and  dependence  of  its  parts,  the  harmony  of  its  doc- 
trines, the  efficacy  of  its  sacraments,  the  beauty  and  fitness 
of  its  order,  and  its  sufficiency  to  answer  the  great  purpose 
of  its  divine  Author,  in  giving  light — the  light  of  life — to  a 
benighted  world,  in  order  to  "make  them  wise  unto  sah^a- 
tion."  In  fulfilling  this  imperious  duty,  fear  not  to  expose 
tiiose  fallacious  inventions  of  men  which  have  obscured  the 
simplicity  and  efficacy  of  the  doctrine  of  Cueist — which  have 
led  men's  minds  into  the  devious  mazes  of  error  and  unset- 
tled opinion,  and  call  loudly  for  the  united  eflbrts  of  all  who 
value  religious  and  civil  liberty,  to  engage  heartily  in  this 
work.  Take  St.  Paul's  rule,  as  expressed  in  the  first  E])istle 
to  the  Thessalonians,  to  govern  and  encourage  you  in  this 
part  of  your  duty  in  particular: — "But,  as  we  were  allowed 
of  God  to  be  put  in  trust  with  the  gospel,  even  so  we  speak; 
not  as  pleasing  men,  but  God,  which  trieth  our  hearts."  And 


202  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAKGE. 

thus  shall  you  be  fortified  against  that  "fear  of  man,"  which 
*'bringeth  a  snare." 

We  are  but  a  small  body,  my  reverend  brethren;  but,  by 
the  good  l)lessing  of  our  God  upon  us,  we  are  increasing. 
Help  hath  come  forth  for  us  from  his  right  hand,  during  the 
past  Conventional  year;  and,  if  we  continue  fiiithful,  we  may 
confidently  look  for  its  continuance.  Let  this  hope,  then, 
animate  us  all  to  renewed  diligence  in  those  duties,  in  the 
faithful  discharge  of  which  only  can  we  expect  "to  save  our 
own  souls  and  the  souls  of  those  who  hear  us." 

To  you,  my  brethren  of  the  laity,  it  is  also  my  duty  to  pre- 
sent such  admonition,  on  those  interests  of  the  Church  which 
depend  on  your  co-operation,  and  can  be  promoted  by  the 
countenance  and  support  you  give  to  her  ministrations. 

Now,  this  is  confined  chiefly  to  three  things: 

First,  TouE  OWN  deportment,  whether  as  members  and 
friends,  or  members  and  communicants  of  the  Church. 

The  most  eflicient  support  which  the  members  of  the 
Church  can  give  to  her  advancement,  is  by  their  own  per- 
sonal religion.  This  is  literally  "manifesting  the  tree  by  its 
fruit,"  and  is  "an  epistle  of  Christ,  to  be  read  of  all  men." 
If  therefore  you  really  and  truly  desire  the  prosperity  of  the 
Church,  from  whatever  cause  this  desire  may  proceed,  labor, 
and  strive,  and  pray,  that  you  may  imbibe  the  spirit  of  her 
doctrines;  that  you  may  manifest  the  purity  of  her  discipline; 
that  you  may  experience  the  efficacy  of  her  means  of  grace; 
and,  by  thus  promoting  the  cause  of  the  Church,  which  is 
one  and  the  same  with  the  cause  of  true  religion,  promote 
and  secure,  at  the  same  time,  the  salvation  of  your  own  soul. 

Another  very  effectual  means  of  pi'omoting  the  interests 
and  advancement  of  the  Church,  is,  exact  conformity  to  the 

COURSE  AND  ORDER  SHE  HATH    PRESCRIBED    FOR  HER  PUBLIC  SER- 

vicKS.  And  in  this  there  will  be  no  difliculty,  while  her  dis- 
tinctive character  is  understood  and  felt;  because  this  gives 
a  point  and  impression  to  her  ministrations,  which  belongs 
not  to  those  who  have  separated  themselves  from  her  com- 
munion. Occasional  conformity,  tlierefore,  by  which  is 
meant,  a  mixed  attendance  upon  the  Church  and  upon  those 
who  dissent  from  her — sometimes  with  the  one,  sometimes 


AN  EPISCOPAL  CHAEGE.  203 

with  the  other — is  so  far  in  opposition  to  her  advancement, 
as  it  is  sure  to  keep  the  person  thus  acting  unfixed  and  wa- 
vering. Where  there  is  no  settled  principle  there  can  be  no 
consistent  conduct;  and  experience  teaches  us,  that  it  is  only 
what  we  love  that  we  lay  ourselves  out  for. 

The  peculiar  situation  of  the  Church  at  present,  and  for 
many  years  back,  whereby  the  congregations  can  only  be  oc- 
casionally supplied,  has  had  a  tendency  to  lessen  the  danger 
of  this  practice,  in  the  opinions  of  Christians,  and  to  induce 
many  who  nevertheless  have  a  true  regard  for  the  Church,  to 
attend  the  services  of  others,  when  they  had  none  of  their 
own.  Now,  while  it  may  be  said,  that  hereby  a  good  example 
was  given  of  reverence  for  the  Sabbath,  and  good  instruction 
was  received  from  the  Sermon  delivered,  it  is  not  considered, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  countenance  has  also  been  given  to 
ministrations  which  the  Church  considers  irregular  and  in- 
valid— not  to  say  schismatical;  and  that,  by  this  kind  of  con- 
duct, we  actually  encourage  the  dangerous  delusion,  that  one 
system  of  doctrine  is  as  true  as  another,  and  one  Church  just 
as  safe  as  another;  and  thus,  without  meaning  it,  perhaps, 
pull  down  with  one  hand  the  fabric  we  are  rearing  with 
another.  For,  according  to  St.  Paul's  reasoning,  in  a  parallel 
case,  "If  any  man  see  thee,  which  hast  knowledge,  sit  at 
meat  in  the  idol's  temple,  shall  not  the  conscience  of  him 
which  is  weak  be  emboldened  to  eat  those  things  which  are 
offered  to  idols? — and,  through  thy  knowledge,  shall  the 
weak  brother  perish,  for  whom  Cheist  died?"  But,  though 
it  is  to  be  lamented  that  the  different  congregations  cannot 
be  supplied  with  regular  services  on  every  Sunday,  yet  is  every 
family  provided  with  the  means  of  spending  the  vacant  day 
profitably  and  to  edification  at  home,  in  the  Liturgy,  Scrip- 
tures, and  standard  writers  of  the  Church;  so  that  every 
member  of  the  family  may  have  this  advantage,  which  some 
must  be  deprived  of  if  they  have  any  distance  to  travel  to 
the  place  of  meeting. 

As  this  want  of  conformity,  therefore,  to  principle  and 
order  as  Churchmen,  is  not  defended  by  any  necessity,  is 
well  provided  against  in  the  use  of  the  Liturgy,  Scriptures, 
and  standard  writers,  and  has  an  evident  tendency  to  retard, 
rather  than  to  promote  the  advancement  of  the  Church,  I 


204  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE. 

trust  that  you,  my  lay  brethren,  will  take  in  good  part  the 
admonition  now  given,  and,  by  future  steadfastness,  show 
that  you  are  members  of  the  Church  rather  from  principle 
than  from  mere  choice  and  convenience;  and  that,  as  your 
affection,  understanding,  and  interests,  are  all  on  the  side  of 
the  Church,  so  will  your  conduct  declare  it,  by  "continuing 
steadfast  in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in 
breaking  of  bread  and  in  prayers." 

A  third  and  most  important  means  for  the  advancement  of 
the  Church,  exclusively  in  the  power  of  the  laity,  is  found  in 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  RISING  GENERATION. 

But  a  little  while,  my  clerical  and  lay  brethren,  and  the 
place  that  now  knows  us  will  know  us  no  more.  Who,  then, 
is  to  succeed  to  that  blessed  hope,  through  the  power  of 
which  we  contemplate  this  awful  change  without  dismay,  if 
not  with  desire?  Surely  it  is  bound  upon  every  father,  upon 
every  mother,  upon  every  Christian  who  himself  rejoices  "in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God,"  to  do  what  in  him  lies  to  perpetu- 
ate that  foundation  on  which  this  hope  is  built. 

To  education,  then,  we  must  look,  not  only  for  the  future 
advancement,  but  for  the  very  being  of  the  Church.  If  re- 
ligion is  not  instilled  in  early  life,  if  it  begin  not  in  our  fam- 
ilies, and  continue  not  to  be  carefully  cultivated  throughout 
the  whole  period  of  juvenile  instruction,  we  shall  in  vain  look 
for  its  prevalence  in  the  world.  Not  to  detain  you  on  what 
is  so  evident — what  yon  are  so  solemnly  pledged  to  in  the 
baptismal  covenant — I  will  mention  what  I  consider  as  in- 
jurious and  inconsistent,  in  the  performance  of  this  duty. 

First — The  neglect  of  early  catechetical  instruction;  that  is, 
preparing  your  children  for  public  examination  on  the  Cate- 
chism, in  the  Church,  by  the  clergyman.  This,  my  own  ex- 
perience tells  me,  is  sadly  neglected  in  many  places;  and 
thus  is  lost  the  most  favorable  time  to  lay  a  good  foundation, 
and  to  implant  those  sound  and  saving  principles,  which 
grow  with  their  growth,  and   strengthen  with  their  strength. 

Secondly — An  alarming  carelessness  as  to  the  religious 
tenets  of  those  to  whom  that  part  of  the  education  of  our 
children  is  committed,  which  has  to  be  completed  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  parents  and  guardians  of  youth.  That  this 
also  is  a  negligence  which  calls  loudly  for  a  remedy,  must  be 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE.  205 

most  evident.  That  it  betrays  an  indifierence,  a  deadness  to 
religion,  a  want  of  serious  heartfelt  impression  of  its  awful 
realities,  is  to  me  the  most  distressing  symptom.  And  it  is 
my  duty,  my  brethren,  to  direct  my  attention  rather  to  those 
things  which  mark  the  (jeneral  than  the  ■particular  indica- 
tions of  religious  impression  among  the  members  of  the 
Church. 

When,  therefore,  we  see  Christians,  so  called,  sending  their 
children  to  Jews,  to  educate;  when  we  see  Protestants  trust- 
ing their  offspring  to  Roman  Catholics  to  train  up;  when  we 
see  believers  in  the  divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  surren- 
dering their  sons  and  their  daughters  to  professed  Unitarian 
teachei-s;   and    Episcopalians  committing   the   hope  of  the 
Church  to  Dissenters;  what  can  be  the  conclusion,  but  that 
such  an  indifierence  on  the  subject  of  religion  generally,  and 
such  carelessness  on  its  particular  distinctions,  prevails,  as  is 
sufficient  to  alarm  every  serious  mind?     And  as  no  necessity, 
nor  yet  commanding  convenience,  can  be  pleaded  for  this  in- 
consistency, (for  it  is  the  wealthy  who  thus  risk  their  children, 
and  by  a  little  concert  with  each  other  might  remove  the  re- 
proach,) it  calls  the  more  loudly  for  this  notice  from  me  to 
the  lay  members  of  the  Church.     I  pretend  not  to  insinuate 
that  the  general  advantages  of  education  may  not  thus  be  ob- 
tained; nor  yet  do  I  say  that  any  system  of  proselyting  is  in 
these  schools  carried  on.     But  this  I  say,  without  the  slightest 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  either  there  is  no  attention  paid  to 
religious  instruction  at  all,  or  it  partakes  of  the  character  of 
that  which  is  professed  by  the  teachers.     Upon  you  in  par- 
ticular, my  Episcopal  brethren,  I  am  bound  to  press  this 
subject,  as  of  the  last  importance  to  tlie  well-being  of  the 
Church;  and  to  warn  you,  that  however  careful  you  may  be 
in  laying  the  foundation  in  infancy,  if  you  afterwards  com- 
mit your  children  to  those  who  are  the  enemies  of  your  faith, 
the  most  you  can  hope  for  is,  that  it  will  not  be  pulled  down. 
You  cannot  reasonably  expect  that  it  will  be  built  up,  as  you 
would  have  it  to  be,  if  sincere  in  your  own  profession. 

To  your  serious  consideration,  then,  my  brethren  of  the 
clergy  and  laity,  I  commit  these  remarks,  trusting  that  their 
deep  importance  to  our  general  and  particular  well-being,  as 
a  religious  body,  will  gain  them  that  attention  which  they 


206  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE. 

deserve.  And,  wishing  you  a  safe  return  to  your  respective 
places  of  abode,  I  beg  you  to  take  with  you  the  assurance  of 
the  deep  interest  I  feel  in  your  prosperity  and  happiness 
individually,  and  of  the  prosperity  and  increase  of  the  Church 
over  which  I  am  called  to  watch. 


AN  EPISCOPAL  CHARGE, 


DELIVERED    TO    THE 


CONVENTION  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 
Assembled  in  Hir,LSBOROUOH,  N.  C,  in  May  1826. 


jMy  brethren-  of  the  Clergy  and  Laity: — The  important 
interests  to  which  jour  attention  has  been  directed  during 
the  session  of  this  Convention,  are  calculated  to  engage  the 
most  earnest  endeavors  that  the  counsels  agreed  upon  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Church,  and  the  kingdom  of  the  Re- 
deemer, should  be  successful.  But  to  this  end  it  is  not  only- 
necessary  that  the  measures  directed  by  this  body  should  be 
correct  in  pi-inciple,  and  required  by  the  interests  of  the 
Church,  but  practically  attainable,  also,  by  the  reasonable 
ability  of  the  members.  That  such  is  the  character  of  the 
resolutions  you  have  now  come  to,  must  be  evident  to  all  who 
consider  the  magnitude  of  the  objects  to  be  attained,  with  the 
means  which  are  at  the  reasonable  disposal  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  Church. 

Past  experience,  however,  teaches  us,  that  neither  the 
necessity  nor  the  advantage  of  a  particular  measure,  nor  yet 
the  ability  to  carry  it  into  eft'ect,  are  in  themselves  sufficient 
to  insure  general  co-operation.  The  Convention  of  the  Church, 
though  the  proper  representative  of  the  particular  congrega- 
tions comprising  it,  and  in  fact  a  legislative  body;  yet,  as  it  is 
clothed  with  no  coercive  power,  is  liable  to  find  its  best  de- 
vised and  best  intended  measures  paralyzed,  if  not  altogether 
defeated,  by  the  negligence  or  indifference  of  its  constituents. 

That  this  every  way  indefensible,  and,  if  much  longer  con- 
tinued, most  ruinous  state  of  insubordination  to  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  all  regularly  associated  bodies,  is,  in  our 
particular  case,  my  brethren,  the  consequence  of  inconside- 
ration  in  some,  and  want  of  proper  information  in  others,  I 
am  well  persuaded;  and  am,  therefore,  induced  to  give  my 
annual  Charge  to  the  diocese  such  a  direction  as  may  tend 


208  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE. 

to  obviate  this  evil,  by  laying  before  the  members  of  the 
Church  such  a  plain,  yet  concise  view  of  the  popular  nature 
of  our  frame  of  ecclesiastical  government,  as  shall  tend  to 
engage  and  secure  the  ready  coucun-ence  and  co-operation  of 
all  our  members  in  favor  of  the  measures  agreed  upon,  either 
for  particular  or  general  good,  by  the  regularly  elected  rep- 
resentatives of  the  particular  congregations  ot  the  diocese  at 
large. 

The  first  delegation  of  power  and  authority  by  the  mem- 
bers individually,  is  that  committed  to  the  Vestries  of  each 
particular  congregation.  These  are  bodies  of  men,  varying 
in  number  according  to  the  constitution  of  particular  dio- 
ceses, but  most  commonly  limited  to  twelve,  annually  chosen 
by  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  each  particular  congregation; 
and  form,  as  it  were,  the  legislative  council  of  the  parish  or 
congregation  by  which  they  are  elected.  To  the  Vestries  it 
appertains  to  direct  and  transact  tlie  secular  concerns  of  the 
congregation;  to  assess  and  collect  tlje  pecuniary  contributions 
required  of  the  members;  to  appoint  the  delegates  to  the 
diocesan  Conventions;  to  elect  the  church-wardens  out  of  their 
own  body;  and  to  act  as  counsellors  and  assessors  with  their 
clergyman,  if  required,  in  cases  of  discipline,  and  other  mat- 
ters of  common  concern.  They  are  also  required  to  keep  a 
regular  record  of  the  members  of  the  congregation,  of  the 
marriages,  baptisms,  and  burials,  in  the  parish  or  congrega- 
tion, and  to  enter  a  statement  of  their  proceedings  at  every 
meeting. 

To  the  Church-wardens  it  more  especially  belongs,  to  take 
care  of  the  church  buildings;  of  the  communion  plate,  books 
and  vestments;  to  provide  the  elements  for  the  holy  com- 
munion, at  the  common  expense;  to  maintain  order  and  de- 
corum dnriug  public  worship;  and  to  regulate  the  necessary 
provision  for  the  poor  of  the  parish.  It  is  their  duty  also,  in 
the  absence,  or  at  the  desire  of  the  minister,  to  preside  ac- 
cording to  seniority  of  appointment,  at  all  meetings  of  the 
vestry;  to  direct  the  entries  to  be  made  by  the  secretary  ac- 
cording to  the  determination  of  the  majority;  to  sign  the  pro- 
ceedings of  each  meeting;  and  to  certify  all  extracts  from  the 
records,  particularly  all  certificates  of  delegation  to  the  dio- 
cesan Conventions. 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  209 

From  tliis  brief  view  of  the  appointment  and  purpose  of 
vestries  it  must  be  evident,  I  think,  tliat  provision  is  made 
for  the  administration  of  parochial  affairs  upon  the  most 
popular  model  compatible  with  order  and  effect.  The  vestry- 
men being  themselves  members  of  the  congregation,  must  be 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  condition  and  circumstances 
of  their  constituents;  and  as  they  must  themselves  be  affected, 
in  a  propoi'tional  degree,  by  the  resolves  of  tlie  vestry,  every 
security  is  obtained  that  nothing  like  oppression  or  injustice 
towards  the  rest  of  the  members  will  be  attempted.  But 
even  if  such  a  case  should  occur,  the  con oTeo;:ation  retains 
the  remedy  in  their 'own  Jiands,  in  the  annual  elections. 

The  next  delegation  of  power  and  authority  from  the  mem- 
bers of  tlie  Church,  is  that  which  is  exercised  mediately, 
through  the  vestries,  in  tlie  appointment  of  lay  delegates  to 
the  diocesan  Conventions. 

These  bodies  are,  to  the  dioceses  at  large,  what  the  par- 
ticular vestries  are  to  the  several  congregations  composing 
them:  the  only  difierence  between  them  being  that  which 
arises  from  the  charge  and  management  of  general  and  par- 
ticular interests,  and  the  consequently  superior  importance 
of  their  determinations. 

To  the  diocesan  Conventions,  and  of  course  to  this  body  as 
such,  it  appertains  to  consult  and  provide  for  the  general 
interests  of  the  diocese;  to  enact,  amend,  or  repeal  canons,  or 
laws  ecclesiastical,  for  the  regulation  of  the  members  at  large; 
to  elect  the  Bishop,  to  appoint  the  standing  committee,  or 
council  of  advice  for  the  Bishop,  to  choose  the  clerical  and 
lay  delegates  to  represent  the  diocese  in  the  triennial  Con- 
ventions of  the  General  Church  in  these  United  States;  and 
to  assess  and  regulate  the  pecuniary  contributions  which  are 
required  for  the  general  interests.  And  as  the  particular 
vestries  are  the  organs  through  which  the  enactments  of  the 
diocesan  Conventions  are  carried  into  efiect,  so  are  the  dio- 
cesan conventions  also  the  organs  whereby  the  General  Con- 
vention fulfils  its  still  higher  and  more  comprehensive  duties. 
Through  these,  as  links  in  the  chain,  the  frame  of  our  eccle- 
siastical government  is  compacted  together  by  joints  and 
bands  which  are  essentially  popular.  It  is  based  upon  the 
will  of  the  majority  of  the  members,  personally  exercised  in 
[Vol.  1,— *14.] 


21©  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAKG-E. 

the  immediate  election  of  the  vestries,  and  it  returns  to  them 
again  in  the  annual  control  which  they  )"etain  over  those 
elections;  and  that  they  may  act  with  judgment  on  their  af- 
fairs, provision  is  made  for  their  full  iufurujation  by  the  pub- 
lic manner  in  which  the  conventions  hold  their  sessions,  and 
by  the  general  dissemination  of  the  annual  journals  of  their 
proceedings. 

AVith  a  frame  of  ecclesiastical  government  as  directly  as- 
similated to,  and  equally  as  congenial  with,  the  civil  institu- 
tions of  our  country  as  that  of  any  other  known  religious  de- 
nomination in  it,  Episcopalians  may  surely  be  permitted  to 
express  their  sori'ow  that  so  persevering-an  elfort  should  have 
been  made  to  impress  upon  the  public  mind  the  false  and 
unfounded  persuasion,  that  the  principles  of  their  govern- 
ment and  the  tenets  of  their  religious  belief,  are  alike  hos- 
tile to  the  free  and  happy  institutions  of  this  favored  land: 
and  to  indulge  the  hope,  that  both  those  who  circulate  and 
those  who  receive  so  injurious  and  uncharitable  a  misrepre- 
sentation, will  at  least  take  the  pains  to  be  more  truly  in- 
formed. As,  however,  the  remainder  of  a  most  unhappy 
prejudice  has  been  widely  spread,  and  long  entertained,  I 
teel  it  due  to  the  interests  committed  to  me,  to  show  further^ 
that  in  the  administration  of  the  frame  of  government  adopted 
by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  these  United  States, 
nothing  contrary  to  tlie  will  of  the  individual  members  of 
the  Church,  expressed  by  a  majority  of  their  representatives, 
can  be  forced  upon  them.  Every  Bishop  is  elected  by  the 
votes  of  the  Clergy  and  laity  of  the  diocese,  assembled  in 
Convention;  every  pastor  of  a  particular  parish  or  congrega- 
tion, is  called  to  the  charge  by  the  vestry  of  the  parisli;  and 
the  vestry  being  elected  by  the  members  themselves,  every 
precaution  is  taken,  that  as  the  whole  is  instituted  for  the 
common  benefit,  common  consent  shall  be  the  basis  from 
which  all  necessary  power  and  authority  to  administer  the 
system  with  advantage  and  effect,  shall  spring,  l^othing 
despotic,  nothing  unregulated  by  laws  passed  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  members  of  the  Church,  is  admitted  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Even  the 
Bishop  is  only  an  executive  officer,  restrained  and  directed 
by  express  canons  in  the  exercise  of  the  authority  committed 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  211 

to  him;  the  only  absolute  power  possessed  by  him  being  that 
of  a  negative  nature,  and  this  confined  to  matters  purely 
conscientious — such  as  the  refusal  to  admit  a  candidate  for 
ordination,  although  recommended  by  the  examiners  as  in 
their  judgment  qualified  to  receive  orders;  and  cases  of  a  like 
nature.  A  bishop  can  neither  suspend,  displace,  nor  degrade 
a  clergyman,  otherwise  than  as  the  canons  direct.  Kor  can 
a  clergyman  exercise  the  discipline  of  the  Church  upon  a 
communicant,  except  according  to  the  rubrics  and  canons, 
and  ultimately  liable  to  the  decision  of  the  bishop,  to  whom, 
in  every  such  case,  an  appeal  lies. 

Every  security  being  thus  taken  against  the  oppressive 
exercise  of  the  authority  confided  to  the  different  officers  who 
are  appointed  to  administer  its  affairs,  and  no  authority  be- 
ing conferred  but  what  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  body,  it  should  surely  be  a  prevailing  argument 
with  Episcopalians  to  respect  and  support  their  ecclesiastical 
constitution,  by  the  observance  of  all  the  duties  it  imposes 
upon  them. 

And  first,  they  owe  to  their  own  interest,  to  the  credit  and 
welfare  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  advancement  of  true  reli- 
gion, a  CONSCIENTIOUS  PEKFOEMANCE  OF  THEIE  RIGHT  AND  DUTY 
IN   THE   ELECTION   OF   THE   MEMBERS   OF   THE  VESTRY.      On    this 

every  thing  may  be  said  to  depend,  because  to  the  vestries 
all  subsequent  measures  for  the  year  are  referred.  And  not 
only  is  it  a  conscientious  duty  that  every  member  of  the 
Church  should  perso7iall^  attend  on  the  annual  election  day, 
but  that  he  should  vote  also  for  those  persons  who,  for  their 
piety,  their  standing  in  public  estimation,  and  other  qualifi- 
cations combined,  give  the  best  assurance  of  a  faithful  and 
profitable  performance  of  the  trust  committed  to  them.  In 
electing  these  men,  respect  should  be  had,  in  the  first  place, 
to  their  standing  as  Christians; — a  Christian  body  should 
surely  be  represented  by  Cliristians.  In  truth,  it  is  desirable, 
that  in  every  case  the  representatives  of  the  Church  should 
be  communicants.  But  as  this  unhappily  is  ncit  in  all  cases 
possible,  it  is  therefore  not  insisted  upon;  nor  is  any  particu- 
lar congregation,  or  the  Church  at  large,  debarred  by  any 
regulation  from  the  servicea  of  those  friendly  laymen,  whose 


212  AK   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE. 

orderly  lives,  and  respect  for  reiigion,  encourage  the  liappy 
hope  that  they  are  "not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Secondly,  tliey  owe  it  to  conscience  and  to  consistency,  to 
obey  the  regulations,  to  carry  into  effect  the  lawful  re- 
solutions  AND    ENACTMENTS   OF   TUEIR  REPRESENTATIVES.      As 

the  members  of  a  particular  Church  are  morally  bound  by 
the  acts  of  their  vestry,  so  are  all  the  congregations  in  a  dio- 
cese, equally  bound  by  the  acts  of  their  Convention;  and  all 
the  Conventions  of  this  country  by  the  acts  of  the  General 
Conventions  of  this  Church.  And  the  ground  of  this  obli- 
gation is  plain  and  obvious.  As  the  individual  members  are 
bound  by  every  principle  of  right  reason  to  perform  the  du- 
ties and  fulfil  the  engagements  growing  out  of  the  lawful  acts 
of  their  immediate  representatives,  so  are  these  also,  in  the 
same  maimer,  equally  bound  by  the  lawful  acts  of  their  im- 
mediate representatives,  up  to  the  highest  judicatory  known 
to  the  Church. 

From  this  very  brief  but  just  statement  of  the  popular 
principle  upon  which  the  frame  of  our  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment is  fotiuded,  the  members  of  the  Church  in  this  diocese, 
I  trust,  will  be  induced  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  election 
of  their  immediate  representatives,  and  feel  that  the  care- 
lessness and  indifference,  too  frequently  manifested  as  to  this 
duty,  is,  in  fact,  a  surrender  at  once  of  private  and  public 
obligation,  and  a  mark  of  great  laxity  of  principle,  both  as 
churchmen  and  Christians. 

As  an  additional  and  very  powerful  reason  to  give  the 
■whole  of  this  subject  the  serious  consideration  its  real  im- 
portance demands,  I  would  remark,  that  as  the  whole  power 
possessed  by  the  administrative  bodies  of  the  Church  is  of  a 
moral  nature,  and  dependant  for  its  effect  on  the  influence 
of  this  principle  over  the  members,  all  unnecessary  neglect 
of  the  personal  duties  consequent  on  the  right  of  election  by 
them,  of  the  relative  duty  of  representatives,  with  all  refusal 
to  carry  into  effect  the  decisions  of  the  vestries  and  Conven- 
tions, is,  so  far,  very  conclusive  proof  of  the  weakness  of  the 
moral  principle — of  indifference  to  the  interests  of  religion — 
and  of  disregard  for  the  only  just  and  safe  ground  on  which 


AN  EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  213 

either  civil  or  religious  liberty  can  be  maintained,  viz:  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  the  majority,  constitutionally  declared. 
Let  not,  then,  the  Church  of  which  we  are  happily  mem- 
bers, have  to  take  up  the  reproach  of  her  great  Founder  and 
Head,  as  expressed  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  "I  have  nourished 
and  brought  up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against 
me."  Our  nursing  mother  appeals  to  us  for  support;  let  us 
not  prove  ourselves  unnatural  children  by  devouring  the 
breasts  which  we  have  sucked,  and  refusing  the  support  and 
defence  which  our  spiritual  parent  requires  in  the  day  of  her 
need.  Slie  has  given  all  to  her  children;  she  has  reserved 
nothing  for  herself,  but  the  comfort  and  consolation  which 
spring  from  unfeigned  love  and  devoted  attachment  in  them, 
grounded  on  the  irrefragable  testimony  of  heaven  and  earth 
united  in  favor  of  her  divine  origin  and  saving  purpose,  as 
held  and  maintained  by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
these  United  States. 


AN  EPISCOPAL   CHARGE 


DELIVERED    TO    THE 


CONVENTION  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 

Assembled  in  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  in  May  1828. 


jMy  Brethres-  of  this  Convention:  Among  the  various 
subjects  of  general  interest  to  the  Church  in  this  Diocese, 
which  your  own  observation,  the  Episcopal  Journal,  and  the 
Parochial  Reports,  present  for  particular  consideration,  none 
seems  more  worthy  of  special  notice,  or  more  called  for  by 
existing  circumstances,  than  the  relation  in  which  the  minis- 
try and  the  members  of  the  Church  stand  to  each  other,  and 
the  obligations  thence  mutually  arising. 

From  various  causes,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  and  retain- 
ing a  supply  of  clergymen  for  our  fixed  congregations,  seems 
to  be  increasing.  This  necessarily  adds  heavily  to  the  many 
other  anxieties  which  press  upon  me;  and  more  especially  when 
I  look  forwaid  to  the  more  than  probable  removal  of  more  of 
our  very  limited  number.  Under  so  serious  an  obstacle  to 
the  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  Church  in  this  diocese,  my 
thoughts  have  necessarily  been  much  occupied  in  searching 
out  the  cause,  and  in  providing  to  counteract  it;  and  I  feel 
constrained  by  a  sense  of  duty,  dee})ened  by  my  increasing 
bodily  infirmities,  to  present  the  result  in  this  way,  to  the 
attention  of  this  body — in  the  hope  that  it  may  prove  bene- 
ficial, not  only  by  conveying  information,  but  by  bringing 
this  vital,  but  certainl)-  much  neglected  subject,  closer,  both 
to  the  understanding  and  to  the  feelings  of  those  interested, 
than  it  can  possibly  be,  while  viewed  with  the  inditference 
and  want  of  interest  which  our  poi)ulation  manifests. 

Religion  in  the  abstract,  and  revealed  religion  with  insti- 
tuted means  of  grace,  are  things  totally  different  from  each 
other,  my  brethren.  Natural  religion,  as  it  has  been  called, 
is  a  mere  creature  of  the  imagination,  which  never  did,  and 


21G  AN   EnSCOPAL   CIIAEGE. 

wLich  never  could,  exist  in  a  fallen  world,  laboring  under 
the  ijahy  of  spiritual  death.  In  whatever  degree,  therefore, 
we  assume  the  gratuitous  reasonings  derived  from  either  ab- 
stract or  natural  religion  as  the  ground  of  duty  and  hope  to- 
wards God,  we  depart  from  the  only  foundation,  and  prepare 
the  way  for  infidelity  and  indiflerence  to  triumph  under  the 
guise  of  external  morality.  Nor  are  there  wanting  in  the 
judgment  of  him  who  addresses  you,  strong  indications,  from 
the  actual  condition  of  society  in  Christian  lands  in  regard  to 
revealed  religion,  that  some  such  deleterious  principle  is  in 
operation,  indisposing  the  minds  of  men  to  give  that  close 
and  earnest  attention  to  the  subject,  which  it  most  surely 
merits,  as  a  special  institution  and  appointment  of  the  wis- 
dom of  God;  and  seducing  them  to  rest  satisfied  with  the 
hasty  conclusions  of  indolent  or  ill-directed  research,  and  to 
receive  unquestioned,  the  comparatively  modern  inventions 
of  men,  as  "the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  To  cor- 
rect this  dangerous  delusion,  therefore — or  rather  to  avert 
its  pestiferous  influence  from  tlie  charge  committed  to  my 
accountability — and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  particular 
subject  of  this  address,  the  following  preliminary  remarks 
are  submitted. 

To  derive  advantage  from  any  institution  of  a  moral  and 
spiritual  nature,  it  is  evident  that  the  institution  must  be  un- 
derstood and  applied  in  the  extent  and  integrity  of  its  ap- 
}jointments.  Hence,  as  religion  is  the  most  commanding  in- 
terest which  moral  beings  can  either  reflect  or  act  upon,  it 
claims  tlie  most  serious  investigation,  and  the  most  diligent 
and  unreserved  ap[)licatIon  of  its  directions  and  precepts. 
To  expect  to  reap  the  benefits  which  it  is  intended  to  confer, 
without  resorting  to  the  ineans  appointed  to  that  end,  is  to 
vacate  religion  as  a  reasonable  service,  and  to  reduce  the 
first  duty  and  the  highest  attainment  of  accountable  man  to 
such  an  uncertainty  as  paralyzes  the  one,  and  renders  the 
•other  altogether  fortuitous;  a  state  of  things,  when  considered 
in  connexion  with  moral  condition,  productive  only  of  heart- 
less disregard,  or  of  wild  enthusiasm.  Like  its  Almighty 
Author,  religion  must  be  sought  unto;  for  the  happiness  of  a 
future  state  is  proposed  to  mankind,  not  as  the  fate  of  their 


AN  EPISCOPAL  CHAliGE.  217 

nature,  but  as  the  reward  of  tlieir  duty,  faithfully  and  reli- 
giously performed. 

The  same  obvious  and  rational  principle  pervades  what- 
ever is  connected  with  religion  as  a  practical  duty.  Hence, 
in  the  provision  which  the  wisdom  of  God  hath  made,  that 
the  ordinances  of  his  grace  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  shall 
be  ministered  to  their  fellows  by  men  of  like  passions  with, 
themselves,  the  same  foundation  for  confidence  and  assurance 
is  given,  with  that  on  which  the  religion  itself  rests  for  its 
obligation  upon  men,  viz:  the  authority  and  appointment  of 
heaven — that  authority  and  designation  to  office,  which  was 
originally  certified  to  the  world  "by  signs  and  wonders  and 
mighty  works,"  by  "the  power  of  the  Holt  Ghost,"  and  is 
to  be  verified  to  the  end  of  time  no  otherwise  than  by  deri- 
vation from  this  root. 

As,  therefore,  no  well  informed  and  serious  man  will  take 
his  religion  on  a  lower  authority  than  from  God,  the  reason 
is  equally  strong,  that  he  should  require  from  those  who  un- 
dertake tu  administer  its  ordinances  to  him,  that  their  au- 
thority for  so  doing  shall  be  derived  from  the  same  source. 
And  as,  in  the  one  case,  the  ground  of  his  belief  that  his  re- 
ligion is  divine  and  true,  rests  on  the  proper  testimony  that 
it  came  forth  from  God;  so  likewise  in  the  other  case,  the 
authority  to  act  for  God,  in  the  external  appointments  of  re- 
ligion, should  first  be  ascertained  by  its  proper  testimony, 
before  any  rational  confidence  can  be  derived  from  partici- 
pation of  its  ordinances,  as  means  of  grace. 

These  appear  to  be  principles  which  carry  their  truth  and 
certainty,  and  consequently  their  obligation  to  moral  beings, 
so  undeniably  in  the  very  terms  in  which  they  are  expressed; 
and  are,  moreover,  so  intimately  connected  with  the  comfort 
and  assurance  of  religious  condition;  that  it  may  be  conceived 
superfluous  to  present  them  to  such  a  body  as  that  now  be- 
fore me.  Yet  when  it  is  considered,  that  many  equally  un- 
deniable truths  are  assented  to  in  terms,  and  forthwith  laid 
aside — that  many  most  concerning  truths  are  rendered  null 
and  void,  by  the  influence  of  ignorance,  prejudice,  and  pre- 
possession— that  the  efi'ect  of  popular  opinion,  moulded  into 
a  particular  form,  can  clothe  error,  and  particularly  religious 
error,  with  the  properties  of  truth — and  that  the  as  yet  loose 


21 S  AN  EPISCOPAL  CHARGE. 

and  ill-considered  views  of  many  who  call  themselves  epis- 
copalians, are  all  interested  to  escape  from  this  close  scrutiny 
into  religion  as  a  revealed  appointment  of  God,  I  trust,  that 
neither  m}'^  intention  in  presenting  them,  nor  their  own  in- 
trinsic importance,  will  be  mistaken  or  overlooked  by  those 
to  whom  I  address  myself,  and  with  whose  comfort  here,  and 
hope  hereafter,  they  are  so  closely  allied.  Moreover,  when 
it  is  taken  into  consideration  that  loose,  indefinite,  and  mere 
general  notions,  on  so  momentous  a  subject  as  salvation,  ope- 
rate to  produce  indifference  and  disregard  as  to  the  external 
appointments  of  religion;  and  to  induce  a  supine  acquiescence 
in  whatever  bears  a  resemblance  to  the  gospel,  and  is  pro- 
fessed with  a  claim  to  superior  sanctity;  and  that  this  is  in 
truth  the  prevalent  state  of  the  public  mind,  in  the  present 
day;  it  is  hoped  that  what  has  been  said,  wnth  the  views  about 
to  be  submitted  on  the  subject  of  the  Christian  Ministrj^,  will 
neither  be  deemed  superfluous  nor  out  of  season,  in  the  pre- 
sent circumstances  of  the  Church  in  this  diocese. 

The  Christian  ministry  being  an  appointment  of  Almighty 
God  for  the  benefit  of  redeemed  man,  the  connexion  between 
the  pastor  and  his  flock  is  spiritual  in  its  nature — refers  ex- 
clusively to  the  care  of  their  souls,  and  has  no  concern  with 
their  temporal  affairs,  only  as  these  affect  their  religious  con- 
dition. Its  object  and  purpose  is  accordingly  expressed  in 
Scripture  by  the  word  "edification,"  which  comprises  instruc- 
tion, exhortation,  warning,  reproof,  correction,  and  example 
— and,  as  necessary,  indeed  indispensable  preliminaries, 
knowledge,  experience,  piety,  and  authority.  So  very  obvi- 
ous is  this,  as  justly  to  excite  surprise  that  the  qualifications 
derived  from  education  should  come  to  be  so  lightly  esteemed, 
and  the  importance  of  a  lawful  commission  disregarded,  by 
any  who  call  themselves  Christians,  Yet  it  is  the  unhappy 
condition  of  much  of  Christendom,  as  well  as  of  our  own 
country,  to  labor  under  the  delusion,  that  piety,  however  ig- 
norant, with  pretensions  to  the  ministerial  office  destitute  of 
all  proof — indeed  utterly  incapable  of  any  other  proof  than 
the  mere  assertion  of  the  party — are  safe  and  allowable  sub- 
stitutes for  such  plain  and  necessary  pre-requisites,  in  who- 
ever undertakes  to  act  between  God  and  man  in  high  con- 
cerns of  salvation. 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAKGE.  219 

This  office  being  spiritual  in  its  nature,  and  concerned  ex- 
clusively with  spiritual  things,  must  be  derived  from  God, 
there  being  no  other  source  of  spiritual  communication  and 
authority  to  mankind,  but  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  Being  de- 
I'ived  from  God,  it  must  be  the  object  of  faith,  that  is,  of  firm 
and  considered  confidence,  that  it  is  thence  derived;  and  be- 
ing the  object  of  faith,  it  must  be  grounded  on,  and  be  in 
conformity  with  the  revealed  word  of  God;  that  being  to  men 
the  only  ground  and  rule  of  faith,  as  to  all  spiritual  things, 
God  himself  excepted,  who  is  necessarily  prior  to  and  inde- 
pendent of  any  communication  of  himself  to  created  beings. 

Considered  in  this  light,  which  is  submitted  as  the  just  and 
scriptural  view  of  the  nature  and  object  of  the  Christian 
ministry,  the  high  responsibility  of  the  pastoral  office  is  evi- 
denced by  its  origin,  by  its  purpose,  and  by  the  sanctions 
wherewith  it  is  enforced.  And  as  the  resj)onsibility  of  the 
office  refers  chiefly  to  you,  ray  brethren  of  the  clergy,  and  its 
importance  and  use  refers  in  like  manner  to  you,  my  breth- 
ren of  the  laity,  I  shall  be  guided  by  this  distinction  in  what 
I  propose  to  say  on  this  subject. 

First,  ITS  ORIGIN.  This  being  divine,  and  the  office  to  be 
no  otherwise  undertaken  than  by  the  direct  influence  of  God 
the  Holy  Ghost,  imagination  can  ascend  no  higher,  as  re- 
spects either  the  responsibility  or  the  dignity  of  the  Chris- 
tian priesthood.  As  ambassadors  from  Christ,  and  acting 
in  his  stead  in  the  awful  controversy  between  heaven  and 
earth,  occasioned  by  sin;  as  entrusted  with  the  ministry  of 
reconciliation,  and  authorized  to  declare  the  conditions,  and 
to  administer  the  divinely  instituted  pledges,  of  pardon  and 
acceptance,  to  a  world  that  lieth  in  rebellion  and  wickedness; 
your  office,  my  reverend  brothers,  is  eminently  one  of  un- 
ceasing labor,  of  constant  watchfulness,  of  deep  anxiety,  and 
of  unshaken  fidelity;  requiring  that  entire  surrender  of  your- 
selves to  this  great  work,  and  that  abiding  sense  of  the  re- 
sponsibility you  are  under,  without  which  the  expectation  is 
vain  that  it  will  be  so  exercised  as  to  be  profitable  either  to 
yourselves  or  to  others.  But  it  is  likewise  an  office  in  which 
the  most  powerful  motives  to  exertion  are  presented,  and 
supported  by  the  brightest  hopes,  the  most  unfailing  assu- 


220  AN  EPISCOPAL  CHAEGE. 

ranees;  and  energy  and  activity  in  tlie  performance  of  duty 
are  prompted  and  encouraged  by  the  highest  considerations 
which  an  accountable  being  can  contemplate.  The  balance, 
therefore,  is  held  with  an  even  hand  by  the  wisdom  of  God 
in  this  appointment.  As  your  responsibility  is  great,  so  is 
3''0ur  help  mighty:  as  your  labor  is  unceasing,  so  is  your  wa- 
ges beyond  all  price:  as  your  privations  are  many,  so  are  your 
consolations  firm  and  steadfast  as  His  word,  who  hath  pro. 
mised  to  "be  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
Of  the  same  divine  character  is  the  evidence  by  which  the 
designation  of  particular  persons  to  this  office  and  ministry 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  is  certified  to  men.  The  ministerial  of- 
fice being  for  the  benefit  of  third  persons  in  things  pertain- 
ing to  God,  must,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  office,  be  the 
subject  matter  of  proper  proof  that  it  is  derived  from  him; 
otherwise,  that  faith,  "without  which  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God,"  and  according  to  which  the  effect  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  religion,  as  divinely  instituted  means  of  grace,  is 
expressly  limited,  must  be  wanting,  and  its  place  be  supplied 
either  by  the  formality  of  customary  assent,  or  by  the  con- 
fused workings  of  an  unbalanced  mind  rushing  without  dis- 
cernment to  assumed  assurance  of  spiritual  benefit.  Hence, 
at  the  commencement  of  Christianity,  miraculous  gifts  point- 
ed out  to  an  astonished  world  the  particular  persons  to  whom 
Christ  had  previously  committed  the  charge  of  establishing 
and  governing  his  Church.  These  were  incontestible  proofs 
of  a  divine  commission — and  it  was  to  these  that  the  apostle 
referred  the  obligation  of  Jew  and  Gentile  to  believe  and 
embrace  the  gospel.  The  first  ministers  of  Christ  went  not 
forth  claiming  to  be  sent  of  God  without  credentials  suitable 
to  their  high  and  holy  office.  The  world  was  not  required  to 
believe  them  on  their  naked  assertion  that  they  were  called 
of  God  and  sent  to  preach  the  gospel.  Nor  is  it  now  required 
to  receive  any  as  ministers  of  Christ  upon  so  uncertain  a  se- 
curity as  an  unsupported  and  unproveable  assertion.  For  as 
Christ's  commission  to  teach  and  baptize  the  nations  was 
originally  certified  to  the  world  by  miraculous  attestation  to 
his  apostles  personally;  it  is  only  as  derived  from  them,  by  a 
verifiable  succession,  that  a  true  and  lawful  ministry  is  to  be 
ascertained  since  miracles  have  ceased.    And  as  the  fact  is 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  221 

equally  certain  to  third  persons  by  the  one  testimony  as  by 
tbe  other,  the  ground  of  Christian  assurance  is  neither  changed 
or  lessened,  nor  the  obligation  or  the  eificacy  of  religious  or- 
dinances impaired.  And  let  it  never  be  forgotten,  my  reve- 
rend and  lay  brethren,  that  the  revealed  religion  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  from  its  commencement  to  its  close,  in  all  its 
appointments,  in  all  its  requirements,  in  all  its  attainments, 
and  in  all  its  hopes,  is  a  "reasonable  service,"  resting  upon 
divine  faith  pervading  its  whole  structure.  Its  ministry  and 
sacraments,  then,  as  integral  parts  of  the  religion,  and  with- 
out which  it  cannot  be  savingly  administered,  must  forever 
derive  their  authority  and  efficacy  from  divine  institution; 
and  the  assurance  of  faith  prove  a  delusion  or  a  reality,  ac- 
cording as  it  is  built  upon  the  foundation  Christ  hath  laid, 
as  exhibited  to  the  world  by  his  holy  apostles,  received  and 
acted  upon  by  the  primitive  Church,  and  recorded  in  the  in- 
spired Scriptures  of  our  faith;  or  as  it  is  assumed  upon  some 
invention  of  man,  utterly  devoid  of  that  testimony  to  divine 
origin  and  authority,  upon  which  alone  a  rational  being  is  pre- 
sumed to  rest  the  unspeakable  interests  of  eternal  condition. 
To  place  the  ministerial  office,  then,  upon  any  other,  or 
upon  lower  ground,  than  as  derived  from  God,  is  at  once  to 
vacate  the  responsibility  of  the  office  to  him  who  holds  it, 
and  to  defeat  its  use  and  efficacy  to  those  for  whose  benefit 
it  is  instituted.  For  if  less  than  divine  in  its  origin,  it  is  not 
perceived  how  any  man  can  with  truth  and  understanding- 
say,  that  he  is  moved  by  the  Holt  Ghost  to  undertake  it;  or 
where  the  only  proper  testimony  to  this  its  divine  origin  is 
wanting,  how  any  thing  deserving  the  name  of  Christian  as- 
surance can  be  derived  to  those  whose  spiritual  condition  is 
inseparably  connected  with  the  visible  sacraments  of  the 
visible  Church  of  Christ.  Nor  need  we  be  in  the  smallest 
degree  afraid  to  assign  the  low  and  erroneous  views  as  to  the 
origin  and  proof  of  the  Christian  ministry,  which  the  divi- 
sions and  separations  among  Christians  have  forced  into  cur- 
rency, as  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  disregard  of  religious 
ordinances,  and  indifference  to  and  disuse  of  the  instituted 
means  of  grace,  and  of  the  consequent  decline  of  vital  godli- 
ness, which  casts  so  awful  a  shade  over  the  otherwise  happy 
condition  of  this  favored  country. 


Q9.9 


AN   EnSCOPAL   CHARGE. 


But,  luy  reverend  brothers,  it  is  a  part  of  the  responsibili- 
ty of  3^our  sacred  office,  to  magnify  that  office — not  only  by 
adorning-  your  divine  commission  as  ambassadors  of  Christ, 
and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  by  a  holy  life,  and  by 
unwearied  and  faithful  exertions  for  the  advancement  of  his 
kingdom,  but  by  asserting  its  high  derivation,  and  by  de- 
monstrating its  inseparable  connexion  with  the  revealed  hope 
of  the  gospel.  To  be  silent  on  this  fundamental  subject  to 
those  of  your  charge,  is  to  be  unfaithful  to  them,  and  unjust 
to  yourselves;  while  it  serves  to  cherish  the  delusion  in  others, 
that  because  pretensions  to  ministerial  character  unsupported 
by  verifiable  succession  from  the  apostles  of  Christ  as  the 
only  root  of  unitj^  in  his  visible  Church,  are  unquestioned, 
that  therefore  they  may  be  relied  on.  We  can  look  back, 
reverend  brothers,  on  a  wide  and  wasteful  desolation  of  the 
fold  of  CuRisT,  through  remissness  on  this  primary  and  fun- 
damental subject.  Let  past  experience,  then,  teach  us  to 
pursue  a  wise  course  for  the  time  to  come.  We  can  look 
forward  to  a  most  powerful  host  of  prejudice  and  party  ar- 
rayed against  us;  but  let  us  not  therefore  be  cast  down.  Truth 
must  at  last  prevail  over  error — and  by  turning  the  public 
mind  to  a  sounder  judgment  on  the  concerning  subject  of  re- 
ligion, prepare  the  way  for  its  final  triumph  over  all  opposi- 
tion, and  for  that  union  among  Christians,  which  forms  the 
beauty  and  the  strength  of  the  gospel. 

If  we  consider,  in  the  second  place,  the  turpose  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  the  view  here  taken  of  its  origin,  and  of 
the  proof  by  which  it  is  verified,  will,  it  is  humbly  conceived, 
be  confirmed.  IsTow  this  purpose  is  threefold.  The  first  is, 
the  communication  of  the  discoveries  of  the  gospel  to  man- 
kind, in  order  to  recover  them  from  the  ruin  and  misery  of 
sin,  and  from  eternal  death  as  its  wages.  The  second  is,  to 
transact  the  conditions  of  this  recovery,  receiving  the  sub- 
mission of  penitent  sinners,  and  by  administering  to  such  the 
divinely  instituted  pledges  of  pardon  and  adoption  into  the 
family  of  God.  The  third  is,  to  watch  over  the  liousehold  of 
faith,  thus  gathered  into  one  body;  to  provide  for  their  in- 
struction in  righteousness,  and  to  exercise  the  discipline  of 
Christ,  for  the  peace  and  edification  of  the  Church.    Now, 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  223 

to  either  of  these  purposes  singly — and  much  more  to  all  of 
them  collectively,  as  the  sum  of  ministerial  dntj — a  divine 
commission  and  authority  to  act  is  indispensable,  too,  prior 
to  any  performance  of  the  duty.  For,  "How  shall  they  preach 
except  they  be  sent?"  Or,  "Who  has  any  natural  right  to  ad- 
minister the  sacraments  of  the  gospel?  Or,  -who  are  bound 
to  submit  themselves  to  discipline,  "svhere  no  lawful  authority 
to  inflict  censure  is  possessed?  Above  all,  who  will  be  found 
to  regard  the  discipline  of  Christ,  unless  upon  the  firm  per- 
suasion, amounting  to  fixed  faith,  that  to  be  justly  cut  off 
from  the  peace  and  privileges  of  his  visible  Church  upon 
earth,  is  a  virtual  excision  of  such  persons  from  the  "Church 
of  the  first-born,  which  are  written  in  heaven?" 

Evident  as  this  must  be  to  every  reasonable  mind,  and 
confirmed  as  it  is  by  the  analogies  of  all  social  bodies,  the 
subject  presents  itself  with  the  highest  interest  to  the  con- 
sideration of  believers,  when  viewed  as  the  express  appoint- 
ment of  the  wisdom  of  God,  in  the  structure  of  that  religion 
which  he  hath  revealed  to  fallen  man  for  his  salvation.  In 
that  religion  as  established  by  its  divine  Author,  the  unity 
of  the  Church,  and  tlie  assurance  of  faith,  are  insej^arably 
connected  with  Christ's  commission  to  preach  and  baptize 
the  nations.  But  this  commission  was  not  given  to  the  whole 
body  of  believers  who  embraced  the  gospel  during  his  per- 
sonal ministry;  nor  yet  to  his  Church,  properly  so  called:  for 
the  Church  of  Christ  was  not  organized  and  set  up  in  this 
world  until  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Christ's  commission  was 
given  exclusively  to  the  eleven,  who  continued  with  him  in 
his  temptations,  and  with  whom  he  continued  for  forty  days 
after  his  resurrection,  "speaking  to  them  of  the  things  per- 
taining  to  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  was  to  them,  and  to 
them  only,  that  he  said,  "As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even 
so  send  I  you."  His  passion  being  accomplished,  the  pur- 
chase of  redemption  completed,  and  a  kingdom  conquered 
from  sin  and  death,  then  it  was,  that  he  conferred  on  the 
eleven,  and  on  their  successors  to  the  end  of  the  world,  au- 
thority to  plant  and  govern  his  Church.  "I  appoint  unto  you 
a  kingdom,  as  my  Father  hath  appointed  unto  me — All  power 
is  given  unto  nie  in  heaven  and  upon  earth,"  said  the  Saviour. 

i6  ye  therefore  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 


224:  AX  EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE. 

every  creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved;  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  It  was  when 
liis  resurrection  had  demonstrated  bis  triumpb  over  death 
and  hell,  that  he  transferred  his  divine  commission  to  his 
eleven  apostles;  that  he  "breathed  on  them,  and  said  unto 
them,  Keceive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  "Whosesoever  sins  ye  re- 
mit, they  are  remitted  unto  them;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye 
retain,  they  are  retained."  And  it  M-as  when  his  glorious 
ascension  into  heaven  had  established  his  supreme  dominion 
over  a  redeemed  world,  tbat  he  poured  out  upon  them  the 
Holy  Ghost,  to  qualify  them  for  their  great  work,  and  to 
certify  to  the  world  that  they  were  messengers  of  heaven, 
and  the  depositaries  of  all  lawful  authority  in  "the  kingdom 
of  God's  dear  Son." 

In  like  manner,  the  sanctions  by  which  ministerial  duty  is 
enforced,  furnish  a  strong  contiimation  of  the  divine  charac- 
ter of  the  Christian  priesthood,  and  of  its  vital  importance  to 
the  hope  of  man  as  derived  from  the  gospel  of  Christ.  As 
"no  man  taketh  this  honor  unto  himself,  but  he  that  is  called 
of  God,  as  was  Aaron,"  the  sanctions  by  which  its  duties  are 
bound  upon  the  conscience,  are  all  of  a  spiritual  and  eternal 
character.  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  said  our 
blessed  Lord.  This  world,  therefore,  and  the  things  that  are 
in  it,  are  equally  excluded  from  the  motives  to  undertake 
office  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  from  the  sanctions  by 
which  official  duty  is  enforced.  Eternity  alone  can  furnish 
the  reward,  or  inflict  the  punishment,  which  await  the  faith- 
ful, or  the  unfaithful,  steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God.  As 
nothing  of  a  temporal  nature  enters  into  the  derivation  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  nothing  of  worldly  enjoyment  or  suffering 
is  referred  to,  as  the  end  to  be  kept  in  view.  You  watch  for 
Bouls,  my  reverend  brothers,  and  for  souls  you  must  give  ac- 
count; not  with  the  loss  or  gain  of  worldly  honors,  dignities, 
and  emoluments,  but  with  your  own  souls.  There  is  no  alter- 
native— there  is  no  escape  from  this  condition,  on  which  you 
hold  and  exercise  your  holy  office. 

If,  then,  these  things  are  so,  and  most  surely  believed 
among  us:  if  they  are  confirmed  by  the  standard  of  revealed 
truth,  and  by  the  stream  of  testimony  in  the  Church,  un- 
broken from  the  apostles  through  a  period  of  fifteen  hundred 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  225 

years  and  subsequently  asserted  and  contended  for  by  the 
confessors,  martyrs,  and  fathers  of  that  Church  through 
which  we  derive  our  succession:  if  they  form  the  distinctive 
principles  of  our  communion,  and  constitute  the  very  foun- 
dation on  which  we  can  either  claim  or  be  recognized  as  a 
true  branch  of  the  one  catholic  and  apostolic  Church  in 
whicli  we  profess  to  believe;  they  surely  form  a  part  of  that 
necessary  edification  which  the  pastor  owes  to  his  flock,  and 
without  which  the  expectation  is  vain,  as  woful  experience 
proves  to  us,  that  they  should  continue  steadfast,  and  be  en- 
abled to  resist  the  various  artifices  now  resorted  to,  to  bring 
these  fundamental  principles  into  contempt,  as  illiberal  and 
uncharitable — as  infringements  upon  Christian  liberty,  and 
unsupported  by  the  word  of  God. 

These  are  daring  assertions,  and  though  totally  unfounded, 
and  demonstrably  opposed  to  the  plainest  principles  of  the 
docti'ine  of  Chkist,  nevertheless  the  temerity  and  pertinacity 
with  which  they  are  announced,  have  given  them  an  in- 
fluence over  the  ignorant  and  prejudiced,  under  the  opera- 
tion of  which,  the  gracious  purposes  of  an  infallible  Scri^oture, 
a  visible  Church,  and  a  divinely  authorised  ministry,  in  th6 
salvation  of  sinners,  are  dei^rived  of  their  appointed  use;  and 
the  various  shades  of  infidelity  are  fast  ripening  those  bitter 
fruits  of  irreligion  and  departure  from  God,  which  shall  com- 
plete the  predicted  apostacy  of  this  latter  day. 

Shall  we,  then,  my  reverend  brethren,  become  accessory  to 
this  moral  death  of  the  immortal  souls  around  us,  by  with- 
holding from  the  ignorant  that  instruction  which  they' will 
no  where  else  receive,  and  from  the  presumptuous,  that 
warning  without  which  their  blood  will  be  required  at  our 
hands?  May  God  forbid.  Shall  we  sit  with  folded  hands, 
and  see  the  Church  of  our  faith  and  of  our  affections  de- 
clining around  us,  under  the  influence  of  an  infidel  liberality 
which  claims  the  concession,  and  brands  as  unchristian  and 
uncharitable  the  refusal  to  acknowledge  the  most  opposite 
systems  of  faith,  as  equally  the  doctrine  of  Christ — the  most 
forced  and  discordant  interpretations  of  Scripture,  as  equally 
the  truth  of  God's  most  holy  word — and  the  multiplied  and 
disagreeing  divisions  of  professed  Christianitj',  as  equally 
true  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  equally  entitled  to 
[Vol.  1,— -15.] 


226  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE. 

the  promises  of  God,  and  equally  safe  for  salvation — without 
an  efl'ort  in  the  fear  of  God,  to  arrest  so  deadly  a  delusion? 
1^0,  my  fellow  laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Loed,  far  be 
such  apathy  and  indifierence  to  the  interests  of  our  Zion, 
from  our  hearts  and  from  our  conduct.  Let  us  then,  take 
"the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  shield  of  faith,"  and  go 
forth  against  this  modern  Eaal,  to  which  so  many  of  our  sons 
and  our  daughters  have  been  sacrificed.  These  are  strictly 
the  weapons  of  our  warfare,  and  they  are  '■'"mighty,  through 
God,  to  pull  down  the  strong  holds  of  Satan."  Especially 
are  they  mighty  to  meet  this  particular  error,  in  all  it&  various 
shapes;  for  it  is  from  a  broken  and  perverted  Scripture  only 
that  it  derives  any  semblance  of  support. 

The   RELATION  IN   WHICH  THIS  SACRED  OFFICE    STANDS  TO   THE 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  Church,  comes  ucxt  to  be  considered. 

This  has  already  been  stated  to  \>q  purely  spiritual^  and  as 
such,  to  be  of  a  more  sacred  character  than  the  mere  consent 
and  agreement  of  the  parties  to  stand  in  this  relation  to  each 
other,  could  possibly  give  to  it.  A  connection  whose  results 
are  to  be  determined  chiefly  in  another  life,  and  with  which 
the  peace  and  comfort  of  the  present  life  are  very  closely 
united,  must  undoubtedly  carry  along  with  it  the  highest 
claims  to  the  serious  consideration  of  every  Christian  people. 
Por  it  is  not  a  connection  of  choice  or  convenience  merely, 
but  one  of  indispensable  necessity;  without  which,  the  ad- 
vantages of  religious  condition  can  neither  be  obtained  nor 
continued. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  which  is  submitted  as  the  just  and 
scriptural  view  of  the  subject,  the  first  obligation  which  this- 
divine  appointment  for  the  administration  of  the  grace  of  the 
gospel  to  men  involves,  is,  that  men  provide  themselves  with 
ministers.  No  body  of  Christian  people  can  continue  to 
prosper  in  their  religious  concerns,  when  deprived,  for  any 
length  of  time,  of  the  services  of  the  sanctuary.  And  ex- 
perience proves,  that  the  most  flourishing  congregations- 
quickly  decline  from  the  power  of  religion,  and  dwindle  into- 
utter  decay,  under  this  privation. 

The  next  obligation  involved  is,  that  the  persons  thus  em- 
ployed to  minister  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  people,  b©' 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  227 

true  and  lawful  ministers  of  Christ.  And  this  obligation 
rests  upon  the  same  ground  of  reason  and  propriety,  whereby 
all  other  agencies  are  held  to  be  valid  or  void,  vis.  power 
and  autliorit}'  from  the  principal  to  act  in  his  behalf.  As  in 
temporal  aifairs,  no  qualifications  for  any  particular  ofiice, 
however  great;  no  desire  to  do  good,  and  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  the  community,  however  sincere;  nor  yet  any  willing- 
ness on  the  part  of  others  to  reap  the  benefit  of  such  qualifi- 
cations; can  confer  the  right  to  assume  ofiice,  and  bind  the 
State  to  recognize  acts  thus  performed:  in  like  manner  in 
things  spiritual,  no  qualifications  of  natural  or  acquired 
ability,  however  great;  no  piety,  however  ardent;  no  ac- 
knowledgment or  solicitation  of  others,  however  general;  can 
authorize  the  assumption  of  ofiice  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
or  give  any  reasonable  ground  of  assurance  as  to  the  benefit 
to  be  derived  from  it;  for  the  benefit  or  advantage  to  third 
persons,  is  as  inseparably  tied  to  the  authority  to  perform  the 
act  in  things  religious,  as  in  the  afiTairs  of  civil  life.  And 
just  as  certainly  as  confusion,  disorder,  and  ultimate  disso- 
lution of  the  frame  and  purpose  of  civil  government,  would 
follow  the  adoption  of  the  principle  that  the  qualifications 
for,  or  the  desire  to  fill,  an  ofiice,  authorized  the  assumption 
thereof,  and  rendered  the  actings  and  doings  of  such  agents 
obligatory  upon  the  State;  so  sure  it  is,  that  the  same  dis- 
astrous consequences  will  follow  the  adoption  of  this  prin- 
ciple in  the  administration  of  the  gospel.  And  so  obvious  is 
this  principle  to  common  sense,  and  so  clear  the  analogy  by 
which  it  is  supported,  that  it  may  well  excite  some  feeling 
stronger  than  surprize,  that  Christians,  with  the  Bible  in 
their  hands,  should  ever  have  given  countenance  to  so  pal- 
pable a  delusion;  and  in  particular,  that  episcopalians  should 
so  far  have  been  blinded  by  this  deceit,  as  to  allow  their 
prime  distinction  as  a  religious  body  to  be  undermined, 
undervalued,  and  finally  exploded,  by  its  operation. 

And  notwithstanding  the  numbers  who  assert  these  liberal 
novelties — notwithstanding  the  reproach  which  attends  those 
who  denounce  them  as  dangerous  and  destructive  errors — I 
should  be  false  to  my  solemn  consecration  vows,  and  to  your 
eternal  interests,  my  brethren  of  this  convention,  did  I  fail 
to  assert,  and  to  warn  you,  that  the  question  of  ministerial 


228  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAKGE. 

commission  is  a  vital  question;  that  is,  is  a  question  of  the  es- 
sence of  revealed  religion,  and  fundamental  to  the  hope  of 
the  gospel.  For  this  hope  cannot  be  separated  from  the 
saci'aments  of  the  visible  Church,  any  more  than  the  sacra- 
ments can  be  separated  from  the  right  to  administer  them,  as 
things  pertaining  to  God.  If  men  can  be  saved  without  the 
sacraments  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  where  they  may  be  had, 
wherefore  were  they  ordained  by  Christ  himself  for  perpetual 
observance,  and  whence  their  acknowledged  character  as 
means  of  grace  to  the  souls  of  men?  And  if  they  are  equally  sa- 
craments and  means  of  grace,  with  and  without  the  authority 
of  Christ  to  administer  them,  wherefore  the  institution  of  a 
visible  Church,  to  be  entered  into  and  continued  in,  no 
otherwise  than  by  participation  of  the  sacraments,  rightly 
administered  by  men  duly  commissioned  to  act  as  stewards 
OF  the  mysteries  of  God?  These  are  questions  which  bring 
this  subject  home  to  the  reason  and  to  the  conscience  of  every 
sincere  and  informed  Christian,  and  are  calculated  to  fortify 
the  less  informed  against  the  plausible,  but  unfounded,  reason- 
ings, by  which  so  many  have  been  led  away  from  the  ti'uth. 

Nor  are  there  wanting  other  grounds,  on  which  to  show 
the  fallacy  of  all  such  innovations  upon  primitive  truth  and 
order.  On  the  principle  here  argued  against  as  unscripturai 
and  dangerous  to  the  souls  of  men,  the  unity  of  the  Church; 
the  fellowship  of  believers  in  one  body,  by  the  operation  of- 
one  spirit;  and  the  assurance  of  faith — all  of  them  fundament- 
al doctrines  of  Christ's  religion — are  no  longer  blessed  and 
comfortable  realities  in  religious  condition,  grounded  on  the 
divine  character  of  the  Church,  the  Ministry,  and  the  Sacra- 
ments, as  the  channels  of  that  grace  through  which  the  heart 
has  been  renewed  to  God,  and  the  life  recovered  from  sin  to 
holiness;  but  mere  imagination  and  assumptions  of  such 
benefits,  grounded  on  ministrations  incapable  of  being  verified 
as  divine  and  true,  and  consequently  not  to  be  relied  on,  in 
the  awful  concern  of  the  loss  or  salvation  of  the  soul. 

On  this  liberal  principle,  instead  of  "one  body  and  one 
spirit,  one  Lord,  one  ftiith,  one  baptism" — which  St.  Paul 
asserts  as  the  characteristic  of  Christ's  religion,  there  must 
be  as  many  of  each  of  these,  as  there  are  existing  divisions 
on  the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel. 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  229 

On  this  modern  system  of  general  comprehension,  it  is  not 
perceived  possible  to  give  any  good  reason  why  every  man. 
may  not  be  his  own  priest,  and  minister  to  himself  in  spiritual 
things.  For  if  one  division  from  the  body  of  Chkist  is  justi- 
fiable, why  not  one  hundred,  or  one  hundred  million?  If  one 
man  has  a  right  to  take  the  ministerial  office  unto  himself, 
upon  some  impulse  or  persuasion  of  his  own  mind,  why  not 
another — why  not  every  other,  until  the  Church  of  Chkist  is 
scattered  into  the  dust  of  individuality?  And  if  men,  rational 
beings,  who  have  an  eternity  of  misery  or  bliss  before  them, 
on  the  specified  conditions  of  tlie  gospel,  were  but  as  watch- 
ful as  to  the  security  of  their  title  to  spiritual  privileges,  as 
they  are  to  that  by  which  their  temporal  interests  are  held; 
no  place  would  have  been  found  for  the  entertainment  of 
this  dangerous  error,  nor  would  the  sophistry  wherewith  it  is 
attempted  to  be  defended  in  the  present  day  avail  to  continue 
the  delusion,  could  Christians  be  roused  to  "compare  spirit- 
ual things  with  spiritual" — to  consider  well  the  foundation  on 
which  they  are  building  for  eternity;  and  by  bringing  their 
entire  religious  condition  to  the  standard  of  revealed  truth, 
thence  be  taught  the  important  lesson,  that  as  the  faith  and 
(yrder  of  the  gospel  are  equally  from  God,  l)oih  must  combine 
to  give  assurance  to  that  hope  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
has  purchased,  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  for  a  world  of 
sinners. 

A  third  obligation,  growing  out  of  the  pastoral  relation,  is, 
that  the  members  of  the  Church  attend  regularly  on  his  minis- 
trations; that  they  make  him  acquainted  with  their  spiritual 
condition,  and  consul  t  freely  with  him  thereupon;  that  they  hear 
with  reverence,  and  judge  with  candor,  his  expositions  of 
Christian  doctrine,  and  his  admonitions  and  exhortations  to 
holiness  of  life;  and  that  they  practice  diligently  the  duties 
and  obligations  of  Christian  profession. 

This  is  so  plain  an  obligation,  or  rather  class  of  obligations, 
and  so  indispensable  to  any  reason  or  use  in  the  ministerial 
office,  that  it  may  suffice  merely  to  state  it,  with  this  single 
remark: — thus  to  improve  the  advantages  of  the  external 
ordinances  of  Christianity,  is  not  only  a  religious  obligation, 
but  it  is  the  only  ground  on  which  any  reasonable  expecta- 


230  AN   EPISCOPAL   CnAEGE. 

tion  can  be  entertained  of  edification  and  establishment  in 
the  faith.  St.  Paul  sjieaks  of  a  class  of  Christians,  as  abound- 
ing in  the  latter  day,  who  "will  not  endure  sound  doctrine, 
but  after  their  own  lusts  they  shall  heap  to  themselves  teachers, 
having  itching  ears:"  and  he  further  informs  iis,  what  the 
certain  consequence  would  be,  "and  they  shall  turn  away 
their  ears  from  the  truth,"  says  the  Apostle,  "and  shall  be 
turned  unto  fables."  JSTow  as  observation  confirms  the 
truth  of  this  prediction,  so  should  it  incline  us  to  take  heed 
to  the  warning;  nothing  being  better  established  than  the  fact, 
that  those  persons  who  are  so  very  liberal,  or  so  fond  of 
variety,  as  to  attend  the  services  of  all  denominations,  do 
rarely  or  never  themselves  make  any  profession  of  religion, 
or  manifest  any  other  sense  of  its  importance,  than  by  thus 
running  about  to  hear  preaching,  as  it  is  called;  and  conse- 
quently they  are  "ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  as  the  same  inspired  apostle 
testifies. 

A  fourth  obligation  of  the  pastoral  relation,  is  the  decent 
and  comfortable  support  of  the  Minister,  in  a  suitable  and 
certain  provision  for  the  temporal  wants  of  himself  and  his 
family. 

This  also  is  so  plain  an  obligation,  and  enforced  by  such 
express  warrant  of  God's  word,  that  the  simple  mention  of  it 
might  be  sufficient,  were  it  not  that  a  growing  indifl^erence  as 
to  this  duty  begins  to  manifest  itself,  and  suggests  the  fear 
that  our  clergy  may  be  driven  away  by  absolute  inability  to 
provide  for  their  necessary  wants,  from  their  salaries. 

That  this  is  in  some  degree  to  be  attributed  to  the  present 
pecuniary  pressure  upon  all  classes  of  the  community,  I  have 
no  doubt;  nor  would  I  contend  for  any  exemj)tion  of  the 
clergy  from  the  operation  of  those  vicissitudes  to  which  all 
human  afiairs  are  liable.  In  times  of  public  distress,  they 
ought  to  submit  to  the  privations  which  are  forced  upon  all; 
and  I  can  answer  for  my  reverend  brothers  of  this  diocese, 
that  they  will  do  it  cheerfully.  But  where  the  remuneration 
promised  is  far  below  a  reasonable  compensation  for  their 
services,  and  afibrds  at  the  best  but  a  subsistence,  it  ought 
not  to  be  curtailed  but  on  the  most  evident  necessity;  and 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE.  231 

Christian  parents  need  not  surely  to  be  told,  that  a  clergy- 
man feels  the  same  anxieties  for  his  growing  family  that 
others  do — or  that  as  his  family  increases  and  grows  up,  his 
expenses  unavoidably  also  increase.  Above  all,  it  ought 
sacredly  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  what  is  contributed  to  the 
support  of  religion  ought  not  to  be  the  first,  and  never  the 
sole  retrenchment  of  expenditure  among  Cliristians. 

This  is  a  delicate  subject,  ray  brethren  of  the  laity,  both 
to  you  and  to  me,  and  therefore  I  forbear  to  extend  it.  But 
if  it  is  taken  into  serious  consideration,  upon  Christian  prin- 
cij)les,  what  I  have  said  will  suffice  to  produce  a  change  in 
this  respect,  creditable  at  once  to  yourselves  as  Christians, 
and  encouraging  to  your  ministers — not  because  of  the  gain, 
but  because  it  will  manifest  a  more  earnest  and  lively  sense 
of  the  importance  of  religion,  and  of  your  attachment  to  the 
Church,  which  otherwise  may,  and  will,  be  justly  questioned. 
Nothing,  my  brethren,  marks  a  dead  and  decaying  state  of 
religious  profession  more  surely,  than  backwardness  and  in- 
difference to  provide  for  the  regular  services  of  the  sanctuary. 

Permit  me,  however,  to  observe — what  I  think  is  loudly 
called  for  by  the  present  pressure  upon  our  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  condition, — that  you  owe  it  to  the  community,  both  as 
Christians  and  as  citizens,  to  set  the  example  of  retrench- 
ment, in  all  those  useless  extravagances  of  annual  expendi- 
ture, which  the  fashion  of  the  world  hath  entailed  upon  soci- 
ety, which  is  the  real  cause  of  the  present  distress,  and  which 
the  retributive  providence  of  Almighty  God  is  making  the 
instrument  of  a  sore  chastisement.  Excess  of  apparel,  fash- 
ionable decoration,  and  profuse  living,  add  nothing  to  our 
real  comfort  or  respectability,  rny  Christian  brethren;  while 
they  take  much  from  our  means  of  doing  good,  are  seriously 
hostile  to  the  inculcation  of  religious  principle  in'  the  i*ising 
generation,  and  grievously  impair  the  confidence  entertained 
of  the  truth  and  sincerity  of  our  Christian  profession. 

Let  it  therefore  be  put  away  from  among  us,  a&  men  and 
women  professing  godliness;  and  by  so  doing  we  shall  be 
gainers  every  way;  we  shall  speedily  relieve  our  temporal 
necessities,  while  at  the  same  time  -we  promote  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Church,  by  giving  the  most  convincing  testimo- 
ny to  the  purity  and  sincerity  of  our  faith,  and  to  the  powei' 


232  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAKGE. 

and  tendency  of  our  distinctive  principles  to  enforce  that 
holiness  without  which  no  man,  be  his  profession  what  it 
may,  shall  ever  see  the  Lord. 

A  fifth  obligation  which  I  will  mention,  not  directly  the 
result  of  the  pastoral  relation,  but  growing  out  of  your  con- 
nexion with  the  Church,  is  a  faithful  observance  of  the  di- 
rections and  canons  of  your  convention.  This  is  a  duty  as 
binding  upon  the  conscience  of  the  churchman,  as  obedience 
to  tlie  laws  of  the  land  is  upon  the  conscience  of  the  citizen. 
For  both  are  enacted  by  representatives,  chosen  to  consult 
and  provide  for  the  common  good;  the  only  diflerence  is, 
that  what  in  the  one  case  is  enforced  by  the  civil  power  of 
the  State,  in  the  other  is  entrusted  to  the  moral  principle  of 
the  man.  This,  if  rightly  considered,  ought  to  ensure  the 
more  exact  obedience  of  the  two;  and  if  applied  to  the  pecu- 
niary affairs  of  the  diocese,  will  produce  hereafter  a  stricter 
attention  in  paying  up  the  assessments  laid  upon  the  differ- 
ent congregations,  whether  for  general  or  special  purposes. 

There  is  yet,  however,  another  obligation,  the  combined 
result  of  the  pastoral  relation  and  of  your  profession  as  epis- 
copalians, of  such  commanding  influence,  not  only  upon  the 
advancement,  but  upon  tlie  very  being  of  the  Church  in  this 
diocese,  that  my  duty  calls  upon  me  imperiously  to  present 
it  to  your  most  serious  consideration — and  that  is,  the  educa- 
tion of  your  families  in  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Church,  of  which  by  their  baptism  they  are 
members. 

Ti)at  great  laxity  is  exhibited  by  episcopalians,  on  this  most 
obvious  duty,  is  unhappily  beyond  dispute.  And  while  I 
admit  that  it  is  in  some  degree  the  result  of  what  may  be 
termed  necessity,  from  tlie  circumstances  in  which  our  semi- 
naries of  learning  are  almost  exclusively  found,  I  must,  nev- 
■ertheless,  record  my  fear  that  it  proceeds  in  a  greater  degree 
from  indifference  on  the  subject  of  distinctive  principles  in 
religion. 

Is  it,  then,  consistent  with  our  public  profession,  my  breth- 
ren— with  any  vital  impression  of  the  divine  truth  of  our  re- 
ligious doctrines;  is  it  consistent  with  integrity  of  principle 


AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE.  233 

as  parents;  to  commit  the  tuition  of  the  rising  hope  of  the 
Church,  where  the  most  that  can  be  hoped  for  is,  that  if  no 
pains  shall  be  taken  to  impress  their  religious  principles 
deeper  upon  their  hearts,  no  inroad  shall  be  made  upon  them? 

Who  are  to  succeed  us,  my  Christian  brethren,  when  the 
few  and  fast  waning  years  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage  shall  be 
closed?  Who  are  to  occupy  our  places  in  the  sanctuary,  and 
transmit  to  posterity,  in  the  integrity  of  primitive  adoption, 
the  "faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  as  set  forth  in  that 
"form  of  sound  words"  in  which  our  fathers  worshipped  God, 
and  enjoyed  the  comfort  of  his  grace  and  heavenly  benedic- 
tion? If  our  children  are  not  to  be  trained  up  with  this  view, 
and  taught  to  love  the  Church  the  more,  because  it  is  the 
Church  of  their  fathers;  if  the  principles  of  primitive  truth 
and  order,  recovered  from  Romish  corruption,  asserted  against 
sectarian  innovation,  and  recorded  as  "the  lively  oracles  of 
God,"  in  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  and  confessors  of  the  Brit- 
ish Church,  our  spiritual  mother,  are  now  to  be  abandoned 
to  the  fostering  care  of  their  professed  opponents,  vain  are 
your  labors  and  self-denials,  my  l)rethren  of  the  clergy — vain 
are  your  exertions  and  sacrifices,  my  brethren  of  the  laity. 
We  shall  soon  be  gone; — soon  shall  the  place  that  now  knows 
us,  know  us  no  more.  And  then,  strangei'S  shall  enter  upon 
this  fair  inheritance,  and  pull  down  the  landmarks  of  its  most 
holy  faith,  and  prohibit  the  ordinances  of  its  rational  spirit- 
stirring  worship,  and  lay  waste  the  goodly  proportions  of  its 
apostolic  order,  and  scatter  the  assurance  of  its  heaven-de- 
rived institutions  to  the  wild  intemperance  of  misguided  zeal 
and  fanatical  delusion. 

Pardon  me,  my  brethren,  if  I  seem  to  you  to  anticipate  an 
ideal  danger.  T  am  indeed  no  prophet,  to  look  into  futurity, 
and  draw  from  thence  its  hidden  events.  But  as  your  watch- 
man in  chief,  and  charged  with  all  the  interests  of  the  Church, 
I  have  to  keep  my  eye  upon  remote  as  well  as  upon  imme- 
diate consequences,  and  to  give  the  warning  from  the  quar- 
ter whence  danger  threatens. 

Our  danger,  at  the  present  time,  seems  to  me  to  arise  from 
a  decline  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  religion — from  loose  and 
erroneous  views  of  the  prescribed  and  covenanted  character 
of  revealed  religion — from  consequent  indifference  to  our  dis- 


234  AN   EPISCOPAL   CHAEGE. 

tinctive  principles — and  from  an  over  conformity  with  the 
spirit  of  the  world,  which,  if  not  arrested,  must  soon,  and 
certainly,  produce  that  moral  death  which  precedes  the  re- 
moval of  our  light  from  the  candlestick.  Against  this  dan- 
ger, what  is  to  be  our  resort,  my  brethren?  Anxiously  have 
I  cast  about  for  tlie  most  eft'ectual  remedy,  and  my  judgment 
can  find  that  no  where,  under  God,  but  in  a  return  to  first 
principles.  Tliese,  through  his  blessing,  may  yet  revive  us 
to  "the  power  of  godliness,"  and  sustain  us  against  the  oppo- 
sition of  our  enemies — yea,  may  turn  those  enemies  into 
friends  and  favorers  of  our  righteous  cause,  through  the  pow- 
er of  truth  plainly  announced,  and  faithfully  exhibited  in 
practice. 

Pardon  me,  also,  if  I  seem  to  any  to  have  spoken  more 
forcibly  than  the  occasion  called  for.  Alas,  my  brethren, 
that  the  desire  to  conciliate,  where  experience  demonstrates 
that  concession  only  increases  demand,  should  have  so  pre- 
vailed as  to  enervate  and  neutralize  the  truth,  by  the  quali- 
fied and  doubting  terms  in  which  it  is  expressed!  But  a  more 
powerful  motive  than  the  fear  or  the  praise  of  men,  constrains 
me.  This  may  be  my  last  address  to  a  convention  of  this  di- 
ocese— of  which  frequently  recurring  disease,  and  increasing 
difliculty  to  relieve  the  symptoms,  give  serious  notice.  I 
therefore  have  to  speak  as  a  dying  man  to  those  for  whom 
he  has  to  give  account — recalling  them,  as  Christians  and 
churchmen,  to  those  pure  principles  of  primitive  truth  and 
order,  which  alone  give  to  the  religion  of  the  gospel  its  prac- 
tical importance  as  the  prescribed  institution  of  the  wisdom 
of  God  for  the  salvation  of  sinners — which  alone  give  to  the 
visible  Church,  ministry,  and  sacraments,  any  definite  pur- 
pose, in  the  economy  of  grace — which  alone  give  to  the  faith 
of  the  gospel  its  covenanted  character,  and  to  the  hope  of 
eternal  life  through  the  merits  of  the  divine  Saviour  the  sup- 
port of  divine  assurance.  On  these  principles,  derived  from 
the  Bible,  and  from  the  Bible  alone — searched  for  among  the 
various  accessible  denominations  of  Christian  profession,  but 
found,  in  their  integrity,  only  in  the  Church — I  shall  go,  God 
being  my  helper,  to  my  account.  On  these  principles,  pro- 
fessed and  acted  on,  or  compromised  and  surrendered,  will 


AN  EPISCOPAL  CHAKGE.  235 

the  Churcli,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  flourish  or  de- 
cline, continue  or  melt  away  into  a  sect:  and  I  commit  them 
to  this  convention  for  the  diocese,  as  the  highest  proof  I  can 
give  of  mj  deep  and  sincere  concern  for  your  spiritual  and 
temporal  welfare,  with  my  earnest  prayers  to  the  great  Ilead 
of  the  Church,  that  through  his  heavenly  grace  they  may  be 
considered,  approved,  and  applied,  only  as  they  are  in  agree- 
ment with  His  revealed  will. 


SERMONS, 


ON   VARIOUS   SUBJECTS 


SERMONS. 


sermo:n"  I, 


BAPTISM. 


John  hi.  5. 

"Jesus  aaswered,  verily,  Terily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  bom  of 
water,  and  of  the  spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  divisions  and  dissensions  among  Christians  are  at  once 
the  I'eproach  of  the  gospel  and  the  proof  of  its  divine  origin, 
in  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  its  author  and  founder. 
"Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  upon  the  earth;  I 
came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword."  The  foresight  and 
declaration  of  this  perversion  of  the  gospel  of  peace  tends  in 
no  degree  however,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  to  lessen  the 
guilt  and  responsibility  of  those  who  separate  themselves 
from  the  visible  communion  of  that  one  spouse  and  body  of 
Christ,  here  called  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  by  which  is 
meant  that  Church  of  Christ,  which  he  purchased  with  hia 
own  blood — which  he  hath  built  on  the  foundation  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets,  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone 
— with  which  he  hath  left  the  sacraments  of  his  grace,  and 
in  which  only  are  the  promises  of  God,  yea  and  amen  to  us, 
in  Christ  Jesus.  "Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offences. 
It  must  needs  be  that  offences  come,  but  woe  unto  that  man 
by  whom  the  offence  cometh.  Many  shall  come  in  my  name, 
and  shall  say,  I  am  Christ;  but  believe  them  not,  for  there 
shall  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  shall  deceive 
many,  but  go  ye  not  after  them — behold  I  have  told  you  be- 
fore." If  these  passages  of  Scripture,  then,  mean  any  thing, 
and  are  intended  for  our  warning  and  instruction,  it  must  be 
to  teach  us  that  it  is  not  a  matter  of  that  indifference  we  are 
Bo  prone  to  think  it,  in  what  way,  or  by  what  means  we 


240  BAPTISM. 

attach  ourselves  to  the  gospel  in  the  outward  communion  of 
Christian  privileges — that  among  such  direct  opposition  in 
doctrine  and  practice  as  now  obtains  in  the  Christian  world, 
all  cannot  be  right — that  as  there  may  be  false  Curists  and 
false  prophets,  there  may  also  be  false  hopes  and  unfounded 
expectations — and  that,  as  the  consequences  are  eternal, 
every  care  and  diligence  should  be  adopted  tliat  we  build  on 
a  foundation  which  cannot  be  shaken,  and  use  as  much  cau- 
tion not  to  be  imposed  upon  in  our  spiritual  concerns  as  we 
do  to  avoid  it  in  temporal  affairs.  This,  it  appears  to  me,  is 
so  very  reasonable  a  duty,  that  all  must  assent  to  the  pro- 
priety of  being  guided  by  it;  and  as  all  are  furnished  in  the 
word  of  God,  and  in  the  purpose  of  visible  ordinances  in  re- 
ligion, when  rightly  considered,  to  make  this  necessary  in- 
quiry, I  would  hope  that  the  principle  will  be  remembered 
and  acted  upon  by  all  who  are  seriously  concerned  for  the 
salvation  of  their  souls. 

'Among  the  existing  divisions  in  the  religious  opinion  and 
practice  which  prevail  in  the  present  day,  there  is  none  more 
pointed  or  more  injurious  in  its  effects  than  that  on  the  doc- 
trine of  baptism,  as  to  the  subject,  the  mode,  and  the  effects. 
As  by  reason  of  this  difference  many  are  unsettled  in  their 
minds,  and  not  a  few  disposed  to  neglect  it  altogether — as 
the  solemnity  and  importance  of  the  ordinance  is  lessened  in 
general  estimation,  and  the  obligations  growing  out  of  it  im- 
paired and  neglected  in  those  who  use  it — and  as  I  am  in  the 
practice  of  admitting  to  the  sacrament  of  baptism  the  infant 
or  other  children  of  those  who  apply  to  me  for  that  purpose, 
and  there  is  a  denomination  of  Christians  who  consider  this 
as  unscriptural  and  a  corruption  of  Christianit}^ — for  these 
reasons,  I  have  considered  it  ray  duty  on  this  occasion,  to 
make  known  the  foundation  on  which,  with  a  good  con- 
science, I  thus  act.  And  tliat  what  I  may  say  on  the  subject 
may  be  to  your  edification,  I  shall  consider, 

First,  the  ordinance  itself. 

Secondly,  the  subject,  or  description  of  persons  entitled  to 
its  administration. 

Thirdly,  the  mode,  or  manner  of  administering  it. 

And  then, 

Conclude  with  an  application  of  the  subject. 


BAPTISM.  241 

"Jesus  answered,  verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a 
man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God." 

I.  First,  the  ordinance  itself. 

TJiere  can  be  no  difficulty,  I  should  suppose,  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  expression  in  the  text — "Being  born  of 
water," — that  it  recognizes  and  establishes  in  the  most  point- 
ed terras  the  institution  of  water  baptism  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Neither  can  there  be  a  doubt  in  any  serious  mind, 
I  think,  of  the  absolute  necessity  which  all  who  would  be- 
come Christians  are  under,  of  being  thus  baptized.  A  more 
solemn  and  express  declaration  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
Scriptures,  to  any  point  of  faith  and  practice.  But  if  any 
doubt  could  reasonably  be  entertained,  it  must  be  done  away 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  concluding  injunction  of  the 
Author  of  our  religion  to  his  apostles,  was  "to  teach  all  na- 
tions— baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  And  when  to  this  solemn 
command  was  added  a  declaration  no  less  express,  of  the 
awful  consequences  depending  on  the  observance  or  rejection 
of  this  institution — "IIo  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall 
be  saved;  he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned" — it  must 
be  a  hardier  mind  than  I  possess,  that  can  lightly  esteem 
this  sacred  ordinance  and  nitiating  sacrament  in  the  Church 
of  Cubist. 

Tlie  obligation  of  the  ordinance,  therefore,  in  the  outward 
application  of  water  in  some  way,  to  all  who  would  be,  or 
even  be  called.  Christians,  being  out  of  all  reasonable  dispute, 
I  will  say  a  few  words  on  its  natm-e  and  use. 

Wlien  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  covenant  of  mercy 
in  the  Son  of  God  were  made  known  to  our  first  parents  after 
their  fall,  the  Scriptures  do  not  inform  us  that  any  particular 
token  or  outward  seal  was  given  to  them;  and  it  is  not  for  us 
to  conjectm*e  where  the  Scripture  is  silent.  Wlien  the  same 
covenant,  however,  was  renewed  with  Abraham,  and  it 
pleased  God  to  appoint  and  define  the  channel  or  course  in 
which  the  promised  seed  of  the  woman  should  come,  a  special 
outward  sign,  token,  and  seal  of  the  covenant  was  appointed 
by  the  Almighty,  to  designate  and  keep  separate  this  channel, 
and  to  confirm  to  the  chosen  people  the  assurance  of  God's 
[Vol.  1,— *16.] 


242  BAPTISM. 

fiivor  in  tlieir  obedience  to  the  terms  thereof.  "^Tliis  is  my 
covenant  which  ye  shall  keep  between  me  and  you,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee:  every  man  child  among  yon  shall  be  circum- 
cised, and  it  shall  be  a  token  of  the  covenant  betwixt  mo  and 
you;  and  he  that  is  eight  days  old  shall  be  circumcised  among 
you,  every  man  child  in  your  generation,  and  the  uncircum- 
cised  man  child  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people — he  hath 
broken  my  covenant." 

Hence  we  learn,  my  hearers,  that  circumcision,  as  the  out- 
ward sign  of  the  covenant,  was  strictly  in  the  nature  of  a 
signature  to  a  contract,  that  it  conferred  special  privileges 
which  could  no  otherwise  be  obtained,  and  its  use  was  to  de- 
termine by  a  visible  mark,  who  were,  and  who  were  not, 
parties  to  the  covenant. 

In  like  manner  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  when  it 
pleased  God  to  put  an  end  to  the  shadows  of  the  law,  by  the 
offering  up  the  body  of  Christ  once  for  all,  and  to  call  all 
nations,  as  well  the  Gentiles  as  the  Jews,  to  the  hope  of 
eternal  life,  by  the  obedience  of  faith,  the  same  method  was 
pursued  by  appointing  a  seal  to  the  covenant  of  grace  also, 
which  seal  is  baptism,  and  is  of  the  same  nature  and  use  as 
the  previous  seal  of  circumcision,  and  as  certainly  determines 
our  interest  in  the  covenant  of  redemption,  as  the  former  de- 
termined tlie  interest  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  in  the  covenant 
of  promise.  As  it  was  the  same  mercy  founded  on  the  original 
covenant,  "that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  head 
of  the  serpent,"  so  those  to  whom  it  was  proposed  under 
either  of  its  subsequent  forms,  could  only  become  parties  to 
it,  and  be  made  partakers  of  its  benefits,  by  personally  sub- 
scribing to  the  terms,  and  conforming  to  the  conditions,  on 
which  it  was  tendered  to  them. 

As  the  descendants  of  Abraham  were  not  parties  to  the  first 
covenant  by  their  natural  birth,  but  by  the  application  of  the 
seal  or  token  annexed  to  it;  in  like  manner  the  children  of 
Christian  parents  cannot  be  parties  to  the  second  or  new 
covenant  otherwise  than  by  the  aj^plication  of  the  appointed 
seal  in  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  And  the  reason  and  con- 
nexion of  the  appointment,  with  the  express  declarations  of 
the  word  of  God,  most  undeniably  teaches — that  there  is  no 
revealed  method  of  entering  into  covenant  with  God,  of  be- 


BAPTISM,  243 

coming  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the  death  of  Cheist,  in  the 
forgiveness  of  sin,  the  renewal  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
reward  of  eternal  life,  but  bv  the  water  of  baptism. 

I  therefore  do  not  wonder  that  baptism  should  have  oc- 
cupied so  much  the  attention  of  Christians,  even  in  the  cir- 
cumstantials belonging  to  it,  as  a  rite  or  ceremony.  All  I  re- 
gret is,  that  attention  has  not  been  rightly  directed,  and  that 
in  disputing  about  circumstantials,  the  end  and  design  of  it, 
which  is  newness  of  life,  has  too  far  been  lost  sight  of. 

That  the  arguments  drawn  from  the  analogy  between  Chris- 
tian baptism  and  Jewish  circumcision,  have  been  objected  to 
and  considered  irrelevant  by  those  who  deny  to  infants  the 
privileges  of  baptism,  is  very  certain,  as  it  also  is,  that  this 
objection  has  been  pushed  so  far  by  ignorant  and  heated 
minds  as  to  se]3arate  the  Kew  from  the  Old  Testament  al- 
together. But  this  proves  only  to  what  lengths  men  will  go 
in  favor  of  a  particular  notion,  and  that  they  will  even  risk 
the  certainty  and  oljligation  of  the  Bible,  rather  than  yield  a 
distinguishing  though  untenable  point  For,  beyond  dispute, 
if  you  destroy  the  connexion  between  the  Old  and  ISTew  Tes- 
taments, you  deprive  us  of  the  whole  Bible.  Uncertainty  or 
disagreement  in  the  revelation  of  God's  will  deprives  us  of  it 
entirely.  Yet  nothing  is  more  plain  and  certain,  than  that 
our  Lord  himself  and  his  inspired  apostles  viewed  this  point 
very  differently,  ^nd  continually  refer  to  the  Old  Testament, 
as  the  ground  and  authority  of  those  transactions  which  after- 
wards formed  the  Xew.  And  St.  Paul  himself  argues  this 
very  point  on  the  analogy  of  the  two  ordinances,  styling 
Christian's  the  circumcision  made  without  hands.  And  if  we 
would  only  bear  in  mind,  my  friends,  that  in  the  days  of  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles  there  was  no  such  book  as  that  which 
we  call  the  New  Testament,  it  might  serve  to  convince  us,  how 
dangerous  it  is  to  separate  the  Scriptures  from  the  unity  of  their 
purpose,  and  how  certainly  unsound  and  unsafe  that  form  of 
doctrine  must  be  which  requires  so  desperate  a  support. 

From  the  words  of  my  text  also,  we  leani  the  connexion  cif 
spiritual  regeneration  with  the  baptism  of  water;  "except  a 
man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spntn."  Tliis  has  been  a 
fruitful  theme  of  opposition  and  even  of  ridicule  on  the  sub- 
ject of  baptism,  not  only  from  those  who  are  opposed  to  in- 


244  BAPTISM. 

fant  baptism,  l)ut  eren  from  some  who  i')ractice  it.  Yet  no- 
thing is  more  clear  from  tlie  express  words  of  Scripture,  than 
the  connexion  of  regeneration  with  tlie  sacrament  of  baptism. 
Tlie  words  of  my  text  connect  them  inseparably.  The  apostle 
St.  Paul  expressly  styles  baptism  the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion, and  it  is  every  where  spoken  of  and  set  forth  in  Scrip- 
ture as  a  new  state,  a  new  life,  commenced  on  new  princii)leSy 
and  actuated  by  new  motives.  jSTothing  is  more  clear  from 
the  actual  condition  of  man,  as  a  fallen  creature,  spiritually 
dead,  than  that  at  some  time,  and  by  some  means,  he  must 
be  rendered  capable  of  spiritual  gi'owth  and  advancement, 
otherwise  the  gospel  is  preached  to  stocks  and  stones.  Now 
this  we  are  certiiied  by  our  baptism  is  then  done  for  us;  such 
a  measure  of  divine  grace  being  then  imparted,  as  renders  us 
once  more  capable  of  trial  and  improvement,  if  duly  culti- 
vated. To  this  amount  the  Scriptures  speak,  "Repent  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye 
shall  receive  the  Holy  Ghost."  Nor  is  there  a  single  instance 
in  the  acts  of  the  apostles,  the  case  of  Cornelius  excepted, 
which  was  for  a  special  purpose,  where  spiritual  communica- 
tion of  any  kind  was  obtained,  except  at  and  after  baptism... 

Li  the  primitive  Church,  immediately  after  the  days  of  the- 
apostles,  the  word  baptism  was  hardly  ever  used,  but  instead 
thereof  some  word  wliich  expressed  its  spiritual  accompani- 
ments— such  as  regeneration,  re-creation,  'renovation,  resur- 
rection, renewal,  with  many  others,  which  all  expressed  a 
communication  of  spiritual  benefit  annexed  to  the  right  ad- 
ministration of  this  ordinance.  Nor  is  there  a  single  denom- 
ination of  Christians  who  have  set  forth  the  articles  of  their 
common  belief,  as  the  principle  of  their  particular  union,  who 
do  not  recognise  this  doctrine  in  connection  with  water  bap- 
tism: K  there  are  any  such  I  have  not  met  with  them.  Tliat 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  recognises  it  in  the  fullest 
manner,  you  have  witnessed  in  the  service  of  this  day;  and' 
though  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  away  the  true- 
meaning  of  the  words  as  used  in  the  baptismal  office,  they 
are  unauthorized  and  indefensible  from  any  just  view  of  the- 
subject. 

But  however  certain  iit  is,  that  tliis  view  of  the  connexion 
of  spiritual  regeneration,  with  the  sacrameni  of  baptism,,  is 


BAPTISM.  243 

that  set  forth  in  the  articles  and  declarations  of  their  faith  by 
the  great  majority  of  reformed  Christian  denominations,  it 
has  within  no  very  distant  period  come  to  he  qnestioned,  so 
that  the  faith  of  many  is  unsettled,  and  the  ordinance  itself 
lowered  in  estimation,  and  lessened  in  the  nse.  Oonsiderino- 
tliis,  therefore,  to  he  a  most  dangerous  corruption  of  Chris- 
tianity, inasmuch  as  it  strikes  at  the  only  revealed  and  ap- 
pointed means  of  entering  into  cox'^enant  with  God,  and  be- 
coming partakei's  of  his  grace;  it  is  my  duty  to  show  you, 
both  tlie  true  gomid  on  which  the  doctrine  rests,  and  also  the 
fallacy  of  that  on  which  the  opposite  notion  is  supported. 
Xow  this  fallacy  is  two  fold — 

First,  an  alteration  in  the  meaning  attached  to  the  word 
regeneration. 

Originally,  as  I  have  showed  you,  it  was  always  used  to 
express  the  spiritual  benefit  conferred  by  baptism  in  connec- 
tion with  the  change  of  outward  condition  thereby  accom- 
plished; and  as  the  spiritual  benefit  was  infinitely  the  most 
valuable,  that  was  chiefly  in  view  in  the  use  and  application 
of  the  word. 

By  degrees,  however,  the  word  has  become  to  be  generally 
used  as  synonymous  with  convei*sion,  or  the  turning  of  a  sin- 
ner to  God  by  repentance  and  faith.  And  this  change  it  is, 
which  creates  the  chief  difficulty  in  the  question.  Accus- 
tomed to  use  the  word  in  a  particular  sense,  it  sounds  strange 
when  used  in  a  difierent  one,  as  I  doubt  not  was  felt  by  many 
of  you  toda^"  during  the  baptismal  service.  To  give  thanks 
to  God  for  the  conversion  of  an  infant,  which  common  sense 
told  you  could  not  possibly  be  the  case,  must  have  soimded 
strange  in  your  ears,  and  contributed  to  lessen  your  respect 
for  the  ordinance  itself.  But  take  the  word  regeneration  in 
its  scriptural,  primitive,  and  only  just  meaning,  as  the  com- 
munication of  that  principle  of  a  new  and  spiritual  life  wliich 
every  child  of  Adam  nmst  receive  from  God,  to  render  him 
capable  of  religions  attainment,  and  consequently  of  salva- 
tion; all  is  consistent  and  harmonious,  and  is ,  calculated  to 
produce  a  deep  and  histing  impression  upon  the  mind,  of  the 
goodness  of  God,  of  the  reasonableness  of  religion,  and  of  the 
worth  and  efficacy  of  this  sacrament. 

Secondly^ — Tliose  views  of  the  doctrine  of  grace,  Avhich  are 
commonly  called  Calvinistic. 


246  BAPTissr. 

As  it  is  tlie  opinion  and  l)elief  of  tliose  wlio  tlins  think,  that 
tlie  grace  of  God,  when  given,  cannot  fail,  but  must  operate 
in  prodncing  holiness  of  life;  and  as  much  the  greater  num- 
ber of  baptized  persons,  who  live  to  years  of  discretion,  not 
only  fall  into  sin,  but  continue  therein  through  life,  therefore 
they  cannot  admit,  that  the  grace  of  God  is  bestowed  on 
every  baptized  person. 

And  had  they  established  this  doctrine,  had  they  proved 
their  point,  that  the  grace  of  God  is  of  this  nature,  and  ne- 
cessitating in  its  operation,  the  conclusion  would  be  a  just 
one.  But  as  they  have  not  done  this,  and  never  can  do  it 
but  at  the  exj^ense  of  all  religion,  the  scriptural  connexion  of 
regeneration  with  baptism  stands  firm  for  the  confirmation 
of  that  reasonable  service  which  the  gospel  requires,  for  the 
comfort  and  edification  of  parents,  in  the  religious  education 
of  their  children,  and  for  the  encouragement  of  all  baptized 
persons,  to  work  out  their  salvation  with  care  and  diligence^ 
inasmuch  as  they  are  certified  by  this  sacrament,  lawfully 
administered,  that  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  them  both  to- 
will  and  to  do. 

That  regeneration  and  conversion  are  not  the  same  thing, 
is  evident  from  this:  that  regeneration,  or  imparting  spiritual 
life,  to  a  creature  spiritually  dead,  must  l)e  previous  to  the 
conversion  of  such  a  person  from  a  state  of  actual  sin;  it  be- 
ing clear  and  beyond  dispute,  that  an  unregenerate  person 
never  could  be  converted. 

Tliat  the  grace  of  God  does  not  act  upon  us  in  a  manner 
necessitating  and  compulsory,  is  shown  from  our  condition 
as  accountable  beings,  hereafter  to  be  judged,  and  punished 
or  rewarded  according  to  the  improvement  or  abuse  of  the 
grace  given  to  every  one  of  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  whereof  bap- 
tism is  the  only  seal  and  certificate. 

Having  thus  showed  you  the  obligation  of  the  ordinance, 
together  with  its  nature  and  use,  as  an  appointment  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  his  Church;  and  noticed  some  of  the  corruptions 
and  perversions  of  the  doctrines  which  prevail  in  the  present 
day;  I  come  now  to  the  incpiiry,  who  are  the  proper  subjects 
of  this  ordinance — that  is,  who  are  entitled  to  it? 

Secondly  then — Every  denomination  of  Christians  is  agreed, 
that  all  who  can  with  understanding  profess  their  faith  in 


BAPTISM.  247 

Christ,  are  fit  subjects  of  tliis  ordinance.  Li  other  words, 
that  believers'  baptism  is  hiwful  and  scriptural.  On  this 
subject  there  is  no  dispute. 

Every  denomination  of  Christians,  with  the  exception  of 
one,  is  further  agreed,  that  the  infants,  and  other  children  of 
believing  parents,  are  entitled  to  this  onlj  seal  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  and  are  in  the  practice  of  receiving  them  to 
Church  membership  by  baptism.  And  being  of  the  number 
of  those  who  thus  act,  I  shall  now  lay  before  you  the  grounds 
on  which  I  think  myself  warranted  in  so  doing,  by  the  word 
of  God. 

First — As  the  covenant  of  mercy  established  in  the  blood 
of  Christ,  is  one  and  the  same,  under  every  dispensation  of 
religion,  and  embraces  every  description  of  persons,  (every 
creature  under  heaven,  is  the  strong  expression  of  St.  Paul) 
it  must  embrace  infants  as  well  as  adults.  But  as  tiiere  are 
no  revealed  means  of  becoming  parties  to  the  Christian  cov- 
enant, but  by  the  waters  of  baptism,  I  consider  infants  enti- 
tled to  tliis  benefit.  "For  the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to 
your  children." 

Secondly — As  it  pleased  God,  in  constituting  the  Old  Tes- 
tament Church,  to  command  tlie  membership  of  infants,  and 
to  direct  them  to  be  taken  into  covenant  with  him,  by  receiv- 
ing the  seal  thereof  at  eight  days  old;  I  consider,  that  an  al- 
teration in  the  seal  merely,  without  any  alteration  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  covenant,  does  not  make  such  a  change  as  to 
exclude  those  who  were  before  admissible.  I  therefore  re- 
ceive infants  to  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  by  the 
HOW  appointed  seal  of  baptism. 

Thirdly — as  the  covenant  is  an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered 
in  all  things  and  sure,  no  change,  in  any  thing  that  relates  to 
its  essence,  can  be  made,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  j)arties 
to  it.  Almighty  God,  and  mortal  man.  As  therefore,  the 
benefits  of  this  covenant  were  once  extended  to  infants  by 
divine  appointment,  and  no  notice  of  any  repeal  of  this  privi- 
lege is  either  known  or  pleaded,  as  a  minister  of  Christ  I 
dare  not  take  upon  me  to  narrow  or  curtail  the  grace  of  God, 
by -refusing  its  seal  now,  to  those  who  were  once  clearly  en- 
titled to  it,  upon  any  presumed  inconsistency,  or  specious 
reasonings  of  an  incai^acity  of  which  I  cannot  judge.  I  there- 
fore baptize  them. 


248  BAPTISM. 

Fourthly — As  it  is  only  by  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  that  we  are  rendered  capable  of  any  thing  good 
and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  Gon — as  this  help  and  influ- 
ence is  essential  to  our  growth  in  grace — and  as  it  is  only  to 
persons  rightly  baptized  that  this  grace  is  promised  and  given, 
according  to  the  authority  of  God's  word,  which  is  the  more 
sure  word  of  prophecy — I  therefore  receive  and  baptize  them, 
that  they  may  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost — that  the 
spirit  of  grace  may  early  (Occupy  their  hearts,  and  work  in 
them,  and  with  their  parents  and  friends,  in  training  them 
up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  that  they  may 
be  guided  into  all  necessary  truth,  and  strengthened  unto  all 
required  duty. 

Fifthly — As  "that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh" — as 
by  natural  birth  we  have  no  ])art  in  the  covenant  of  grace, 
but  are  under  a  sentence  of  condemnation,  which  can' be  re- 
moved only  by  the  merits  of  Christ's  death,  applied  in  the 
appointed  means,  by  being  baptized  into  his  death, — I  there- 
fore receive  them  into  the  ark  of  Christ's  Church,  that  they 
may  be  made  partakers  of  the  promises,  and  nourished  up 
unto  eternal  life:  for  "it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven,  that  one  of  tJiese  little  ones  should  perish." 

On  these  scriptural  and  reasonable  gi-ounds,  brethren  and 
friends,  do  I,  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  with  a  good  conscience 
administer  the  sacrament  of  baptism  to  the  subject,  and  after 
the  manner,  ye  have  this  day  Avitnessed;  and  it  is  your  part 
carefully  to  consider  and  ai)i)ly  them. 

But  it  may  reasonably  enough  be  expected  that  the  objec- 
tions of  those  who  are  opposed  to  this  practice  should  not 
pass  without  notice,  more  especially  as  it  might  be  said,  that 
they  could  not  be  answered,  and  therefore  were  not  met:  for 
I  know  by  long  experience,  that  Avhat  I  have  this  day  said 
in  discharge  of  my  duty,  will  be  considered  as  an  attack  upon 
a  favorite  notion,  and  withstood  in  every  way  that  can  be 
debased. 

As  there  are  two  main  objections  to  the  practice  of  infant 
baptism,  and  chiefly  made  use  of  by  those  who  are  opposed 
to  the  practice,  I  shall  conflne  myself  to  them;  and  this  the 
rather  because  they  contain  all  of  ditficulty  on  the  question. 

The  first  objection  is,  that  there  is  no  warrant  in  Scrij^ture, 


BAPTISM,  249 

no  Tims  saitli  tlie  Loed,  for  administering  tliis  ordinance  to 
infants.  And  I  admit  that  there  is  no  such  express  command 
as,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  thou  shalt  baptize  thy  children:  but 
in  reply  I  observe,  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  give  any  such 
command. 

Eeflect  a  moment,  my  hearers,  what  description  of  persons 
it  was  to  whom  the  gospel  was  first  preached.  "Was  it  not 
to  Jews? — to  descendants  of  Abraham,  the  Israel  of  God,  who 
for  nineteen  hmidred  years  had  been  accustomed  to  the  church 
membership  of  infants,  by  ex|)ress  command  of  God,  in  the 
application  of  the  outward  seal  of  the  covenant,  with  a  severe 
penalty  denounced  against  the  neglect  of  it?  In  what  sense 
then  would  those  Jews  to  whom  Peter  preached  the  gosjoel 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  receive  his  exhortation  to  repent  and 
be  baptized,  that  they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  with 
his  declaration  that  the  promise  of  this  benefit  was  to  them, 
and  to  their  chikb-en?  Would  they  understand  it  as  exclud- 
ing their  infants  from  the  benefits  of  the  Christian  covenant 
and  membership  in  the  church  of  Cheist,  or  as  continuing  to 
them  the  privilege  they  were  already  in  possession  of  and  ac- 
customed to?  I  think  there  cannot  be  a  reasonable  doubt  in 
any  mind  as  to  what  their  understanding  of  it  would  be.  For 
it  was  a  Jew  preaching  to  Jews,  and  as  such,  would  be  under- 
stood according  to  the  general  and  long  accustomed  impres- 
sion among  them,  on  this  point;  and  the  reason  is  equally 
good  for  a  like  understanding  and  practice  on  our  part. 

But  further.  Had  it  been  in  the  counsel  of  the  unchange- 
able God  to  alter  the  tenns  of  his  covenant,  on  the  revelation 
of  the  gospel,  so  as  to  exclude  infants,  then  would  an  express 
prohibition  of  the  former  practice  have  been  made.  ]N^o  such 
prohibition,  however,  being  to  be  found,  and  no  express  com- 
mand being  necessary  to  those  who  were  already  accustomed 
to  the  membership  of  infants,  I  conclude  that  the  objecrion 
is  not  of  that  serious  nature  which  those  who  rely  upc»n  it 
would  have  it  thought,  nor  suflicient  to  warrant  the  danger- 
ous and  injurious  innovation  of  denying  the  sacrament  of 
regeneration  to  infants. 

But  further  yet.  Was  a  Tims  saith  the  Lord  indispensalde 
to  the  circumstantials  of  a  positive  institution?  Tliere  arc 
many  things  in  om-  common  Christianity  to  which  we  attach 


250  BAPTISM. 

a  very  high  degree  of  reverence  and  sanctity,  and  as  to- which 
we  are  equally  deficient  of  this  particular  kind  of  authority. 
Where,  for  instance,  shall  we  find  a  Tlius  saith  the  Lord — a 
positive  command — to  observe  the  first  day  of  the  week,  in- 
stead of  the  seventh,  as  the  day  of  rest  and  holiness  to  the 
LoKD?  Where  is  the  command  obliging  us  to  attend  public 
worship  on  this  or  any  other  day?  Where  is  there  a  like  au- 
thority for  admitting  females  to  the  Lord's  Supper?  None 
of  these  are  thus  provided  for  in  the  New  Testament.  Are 
they  therefore  corruptions  of  Christianity,  and  to  be  abandon- 
ed and  put  down  in  the  use  and  observance?  God  forbid! 
and  yet  if  the  objection  is  good  in  the  case  of  infant  baptism, 
it  is  good  as  to  these  also,  and  the  opponents  of  the  one  ought 
to  be  equally  so  of  the  others,  to  be  consistent  with  their 
principles.  How  then  stands  the  authority  of  all  these  re- 
ligious observances?  To  this  I  answer:  on  the  same  ground 
on  which  the  Scriptures  themselves  stand,  as  the  word  of 
God — that  is,  on  the  testimony,  authority,  and  practice,  of 
the  primitive  Church  under  the  unerring  guidance  of  the  in- 
spired apostles  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  than  which,  I 
think,  we  need  no  better  security  for  the  quiet  and  assurance 
of  our  consciences  in  any  religious  observance. 

Tlie  next  objection  is.  That  faith  and  repentance  being 
necessary  preparations  for  baptism,  therefore,  as  infants  are 
incapable  of  either,  they  ought  not  to  be  baptized.  To  this  I 
reply:  that  faith  and  repentance  are  absolutely  necessary,  and 
strictly  required,  of  all  M'ho  are  capable  of  them;  and  I  would 
no  more  baptize  an  adult,  a  person  come  to  years  of  dis- 
cretion, without  a  profession  of  faith,  than  my  opponents 
would.  But  where  do  we  learn,  either  from  Scripture  or 
reason,  that  these  are  required  of  those  who  iVoni  the  natm-e 
of  things  have  nothing  to  repent  of,  and  cannot  believe? 
IIoM^  stands  the  case,  as  resj^ects  these  qualifications  for  the 
seal  of  the  first  covenant?  Of  Abraham  and  all  who  were 
capable  of  it,  faith  was  required;  but  of  those  who  were  in- 
ca])able  it  was  not  required,  nevertheless  we  know  assuredly 
that  they  Avere  entitled  to  the  seal  and  all  its  benefits.  Shall 
we  then,  my  hearers,  venture  to  apply  the  Scripture  differ- 
ently in  a  similar  case,  and,  without  an  express  warrant,  say 
tliat  the  words  of  my  text  require  an  impossibility  Avhen  they 


BAPTISM.  251 

declare,  "that  except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  tbe 
si^irit,  lie  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

In  defence  of  this  objection,  the  sti*ong  hold  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  infant  baptism,  is  a  text  from  St.  Mark's  gospel — 
"He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  Be- 
lieving, they  say,  is  put  before  baptism,  and  therefore  none 
but  believers  ought  to  be  baptized.  ]S^ow,  my  friends,  to 
show  you  the  weakness  and  fiillacy  of  all  such  arguments,  I 
will  oppose  my  text  to  theirs;  in  that  it  is  said,  and  very  ex- 
pressly too,  "except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit." 
Here  baptism  is  put  before  spiritual  influence  of  any  kind,  of 
course  before  faith  and  repentance,  which  are  fruits  of  the 
spirit;  and  therefore,  if  the  views  of  our  opponents  are  just, 
there  is  a  contradiction  in  the  Scriptures.  In  this  case  what 
is  to  be  done?  Tlie  same  mouth  spake  both  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  the  same  mouth  hath  told  us  that  the  Scripture  can- 
not be  broken.  Shall  we  reject  either  of  the  texts?  We  dare 
not.  Shall  we  prefer  one  to  the  other?  They  are  of  the 
same  authority.  Shall  we,  then,  force  them  to  suit  some 
particular  notion  of  our  own?  Gou  forbid!  jSTo,  my  brethren, 
let  us  learn  to  treat  the  word  of  God  with  more  reverence, 
and  comparing  spiritual  things  with  spiritual — that  is,  the 
two  Testaments  with  each  other — so  expound  and  understand 
our  Bible,  that  the  whole  purpose  of  God  in  the  salvation  of 
simiers  may  present  one  unbroken  chain  of  wisdom  and 
mercy  from  beginning  to  end;  which  can  no  otherwise  be 
done,  than  by  understanding  that  pm-pose  to  be  the  same, 
and  applied  to  the  same  objects  in  every  dispensation  of  re- 
ligion. And  let  this  difficulty  from  the  two  texts,  according 
to  the  ol)jection  above  noticed,  show  you  the  childishness  of 
thus  treating  so  weighty  a  subject,  and  warn  you  against  all 
partial  interpretation  of  Scripture.  It  is  one,  my  lie;irers, 
like  its  great  Author,  and  cannot  safely,  or  without  sin,  be 
broken  up  into  separate  authorities  for  disagreeing  doctrine. 

The  two  main  objections  to  the  practice  of  infant  ba])tism 
being  thus  shown  to  have  no  foundation  in  either  Scri]>ture 
or  reason,  it  is  the  less  necessary  to  take  up  your  time  with 
those  of  a  minor  order.  There  are  two  more  observations, 
however,  closely  connected  with  Scripture  authority,  and  ap- 
plying to  the  objections  under  notice,  which  I  will  lay  before 
you. 


252  "     BAPTISM. 

The  first  is,  that  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  that  is,  from 
the  days  of  the  apostles  to  the  reformation  of  religion  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  practice  of  inftint  baptism  was  unques- 
tioned in  the  Church  of  Christ.  Now  we  know  that  the 
different  religious  parties  watched  each  other  as  closely  then, 
as  they  do  now.  We  know  that  every  attem2)t  to  corrupt 
the  gospel  was  denounced  by  some  of  them.  If,  then,  the 
practice  of  admitting  infants  to  baptism  is  a  corruption,  a 
departure  from  apostolic  precept  and  practice  in  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ,  how  unaccountable,  my  hearers,  that  no 
notice  should  be  taken  of  it  in  all  that  time,  and  tliat  only  in 
the  last  three  hundred  years  it  should  have  been  discovered 
and  opj)osed. 

The  second  is,  that  in  a  period  of  sixty-five  years,  that  is 
from  the  ascension  of  our  Lord  to  the  death  of  the  apostle 
St.  John,  there  is  no  mention  )nade,  either  in  the  Acts  or  in 
the  Epistles,  of  any  child  or  children  of  the  first  converts  to 
Christianity  being  baptized  when  they  came  to  years  of  dis- 
cretion. Now,  they  were  either  baj^tized  in  infancy,  or  at 
adult  age,  or  rehapsed  into  Heathenism.  But  we  read  no- 
thing, as  I  have  said,  of  their  being  baptized  when  they  came 
to  a  proper  age — and  we  do  read  of  whole  households  beii.g 
baptized  at  once.  Therefore,  T  conclude,  "that  the  rot»t  being 
holy,  the  branches  are  so  likewise" — that  the  ])romise  being 
to  them  and  to  their  children,  every  parental  feeling  would 
urge  Christian  parents  to  procure  for  their  infants,  as  early 
as  possible,  the  Grace  of  God,  in  the  baptismal  seal  of  the 
new  covenant. 

With  tliese  remarks  I  leave  the  question  of  the  proper 
subjects  of  this  sacrament  to  the  judgment  and  the  feelings 
of  every  Christian  father  and  mother  present,  with  the  word 
of  God  for  their  guide,  in  preference  to  the  vain  reasoning 
of  men,  in  favor  of  their  own  inventions,  and  proceed 

III.  Tliirdh',  to  consider  the  mode,  or  manner  of  adminis- 
tering baptism. 

The  opponents  of  infant  baptism  are  also  opposed  to  the 
application  of  water  to  tlie  subject  in  that  sacrament,  in  any 
but  one  mode.  They  consider  immersion,  or  plunging  the 
whole  body  under  the  water,  as  the  only  Scriptural  mode; 
and  that  the  practice  of  applying  the  water  by  pouring  or 


BAPTISM.  253 

sprinkling,  as  used  by  other  denominations,  is  such  a  corrup- 
tion as  vitiates  and  renders  null  and  of  no  effect  the  rite  it- 
self, ev*en  when  applied  to  a  proper  subject. 

Though  I  do  not  subscribe  to  tliis  opinion,  yet  fortunately 
there  is  no  necessity  that  I  should  take  up  more  of  your  at- 
tention upon  a  matter  of  so  little  real  consequence.  Tlie  mode 
of  any  ritual  performance  is  not  a  point  of  saving  faith, 
though  it  may  and  ought  to  be,  under  the  same  reasons,  a 
jDoint  of  dutiful  observance.  No  Christian  denomination 
thinks  it  an  essential  i)art  of  the  Lord's  supper  to  eat  it  at 
night,  or  to  observe  a  fixed  posture  of  the  body;  yet  certainly 
we  have  more  exact  information  of  the  mode  of  administer- 
ing that  sacrament  than  the  other;  and  had  such  circumstan- 
ces been  of  tlie  essence  of  the  ordinance,  there  would  have 
been  a  clear  direction  in  the  Scriptures,  which  there  is  not. 

The  Church  of  which  I  am  a  minister,  however,  authorizes 
the  administration  of  baj^tism  by  immersion;  and  I  am  free 
to  administer  it  in  this  way  to  any  who  scruple  to  receive  it 
by  the  more  usual,  and  equally  efficacious  mode,  of  pouring 
or  sprinkling. 

On  this  contested  point,  and  the  more  contested,  perhaps, 
because  so  little  depends  upon  it,  Scripture  authority  is  not 
decisive  of  the  mode,  there'  being  as  much  ground  to  infer 
that  they  went  down  into  the  water  for  the  purpose  of  more 
easily  pouring  it  on  the  multitudes,  as  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
mersing them. 

In  the  case  of  St.  Paul's  own  baptism,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  he  was  immersed,  or  that  there  was  any  convenience  for 
it  in  a  private  house.  And  in  the  baptism  of  the  jailer  by 
St.  Paul  in  the  prison  at  midnight,  together  with  his  whole 
house,  all  the  circumstances  are  against  the  conclusion  that 
immersion  was  the  mode,  and  in  favor  of  the  supposition  that 
infants  or  children  funned  a  part  of  those  baptized  by  St. 
Paul.  Indeed,  so  very  indefinite  are  the  authorities  relied 
upon  on  those  points,  that  it  is  difQcult  to  conceive  how  sin- 
cere men  can  find  in  tliem  a  justification  for  separating  from 
the  Church,  and  adding  to  the  divisions  which  deform  the 
Christian  world. 

I  will,  therefore,  conclude  what  I  have  to  say  on  the  mode 
of  baptism,  with  these  two  remarks — 


254:  BAPTISM. 

First,  whatever  is  said  in  the  gospel  respecting  John's 
baptism,  the  baj^tism  of  our  Lokd  in  the  river  Jordan,  or  any 
other  baptizings  there  mentioned,  has  nothing  to  do  with 
Christian  baptism,  which  was  nut  instituted  until  after  our 
Saviour's  resurrection,  nor  administered  until  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost. So  that  all  reasonings  from  one  to  the  other  are  in- 
consequent, and  all  analogies  unfounded. 

Secondly,  as  it  is  not  the  quantity  of  wax,  or  the  size  of 
the  seal,  that  makes  an  instrument  legal  and  eliectual,  so  it 
is  not  the  quantity  of  water  in  baptism,  but  the  authority  by 
which  it  is  applied,  that  gives  it  its  eifect.  Oceans  of  water 
without  the  authority  of  Christ  to  administer  it,  signify  no- 
thing, can  bring  no  persons  into  covenant  with  God  through 
him — while  the  smallest  quantity  duly  applied  is  effectual  to 
convey  over  all  the  blessed  fruits  of  his  most  gracious  under- 
taking for  the  salvation  of  sinners.  Hence  arises  a  most  se- 
rious consideration,  my  friends,  in  this  inquiry:  whether  all 
who  venture  to  administer  baptism  to  any  of  the  subjects,  or 
in  any  of  the  modes  in  which  it  is  used,  have  such  authority 
for  what  they  do,  as  to  render  valid  and  worthy  to  be  de- 
pended on,  the  high  privileges  contained  in  the  authorized 
application  of  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Fathek,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  FIoly  Ghost? 

The  application  of  what  has  been  said  is, 

I.  To  those  who,  by  reason  of  the  contentions  which  have 
grown  out  of  this  subject,  have  become  unsettled  in  their 
minds  as  to  the  nature  and  necessity  of  the  ordinance,  and 
have  therefore  neglected  it  either  as  to  themselves  or  their 
families.  Upon  such  let  me  press  the  words  of  my  text;  they 
speak  volumes  in  a  small  compass — "Except  a  man  l)e  born 
of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,"  both  baptized  outwardly,  and 
renewed  inwardly,  "he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God" — 
he  can  neither  become  a  member  of  the  Church  militant  upon 
earth,  or  of  the  Church  triumphant  in  heaven.  By  the  ex- 
press appointment  of  God,  baptism  with  water  is  the  seal  of 
that  covenant  in  which  the  mercies  of  redemption  are  made 
over  to  men.  Let  no  man,  therefore,  deceive  you  with  vain 
reasonings,  lessening  the  obligation  and  importance  of  this 
sacred  ordinance.  Reflect,  my  friends,  on  the  awful  condi- 
tion of  those  who  are  without  any  title  to  the  covenanted 


BArxiSM.  2oa 

mercy  of  the  gospel,  and  "come  thou  and  all  tliy  Louse  into 
the  ark." 

jSText,  to  those  who,  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Fatuer, 
the  Sox,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  thereby  most  solemnly 
pledged  to  the  service  of  God,  have  nevertheless  broken  tlieir 
baptismal  engagements,  and  walking  according  to  the  course 
of  tiiis  world,  set  at  nouglit  the  promises  and  threatenings  of 
God  in  the  gospel.  Alas,  my  brethren,  are  you  aware  of 
your  danger,  of  the  double  guilt  you  are  heaping  upon  your 
souls,  by  thus  i-ejecting  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified  for 
you?  Hear,  therefore,  the  warning  this  day  given  you.  God 
is  yet  merciful,  and  calls  you  to  repentance,  and  Christ  ever 
liveth  to  make  intercession  for  you.  While  this  your  day  of 
grace  lasts,  therefore,  be  zealous,  and  repent,  that  your  sins 
may  be  blotted  out,  and  your  spiritual  strength  be  renewed 
to  escape  from  the  snare  of  the  devil,  and  from  that  eternal 
death  whicli  is  the  only  wages  of  his  service. 

Lastly,  to  those  who  have  this  day  pledged  their  children 
to  God  in  the  sacrament  of  baptism. 

Let  the  solemn  engagements  this  day  entered  into  pervade 
your  whole  duty  to  your  children  and  to  yourselves.  "What- 
ever you  plan  and  contrive  fur  their  welfare,  let  the  affecting 
remembrance  that  you  have  given  them  to  God,  and  j)romised 
to  train  them  for  his  service  both  here  and  hereafter,  rule 
over  your  conduct.  And  let  the  blessed  assurance  that  in 
all  you  now  undertake  for  their  well  being  and  advancement, 
either  as  respects  the  present  life  or  that  which  is  to  come, 
you  have  the  promise  of  Him  who  cannot  fail  you,  that  they 
are  his  peculiar  care;  that  his  blessing  will  be  upon  them  and 
upon  your  faithful  endeavors  to  train  them  up  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord;  that  his  good  providence  will 
so  direct  and  order  their  cause  through  this  troublesome  and 
evil  world,  that  they  will  be  an  ornament  to  their  family,  a 
credit  to  their  friends,  useful  to  their  country,  and  a  comfort 
and  support  to  the  declining  years  of  tlieir  parents.  And  in 
the  great  day  of  eternity  he  bids  you  look  forward  to  such  a 
re-union  with  those  who  are  most  dear  to  you  in  this  life,  as 
shall  never  be  interrupted  or  done  away.  Take  courage  then 
from  the  word  of  Him,  all  whose  promises  are  }-ea  and  amen 
to  us  in  Christ  Jesus.    They  are  pledged  to  you  this  day  in 


256  BAPTISM. 

the  covenant  of  his  rich  redeeming  love,  and  may  they 
strengthen  you  to  a  faitliful  discharge  of  all  your  duties. 

And  now,  my  bretliren  and  hearers,  let  me  appeal  both  to 
your  hearts  and  to  3'our  understandings,  whether  this  solemn 
reception  of  these  children  to  the  benefits  of  the  Christian 
salvation  has  any  thing  in  it  that  savours  of  folly,  or  is  liable 
to  ridicule — whetlier  it  is  mere  baby  sprinkling,  as  some 
profanely  call  it,  or  a  most  efficacious  means  of  grace  b()th  to 
parents  and  children?  Consider  what  the  eflect  upon  society 
would  be,  were  all  parents  and  children  really  under  the  in- 
fluence of  these  solemn  engagements,  and  diligent  to  fulfil 
their  vows  to  God.  Consider  further,  who  can  look  forward 
to  comfort  and  satisfaction  in  his  family,  with  the  best  hope 
— the  parent  who  dedicates,  or  he  who  withholds  his  family 
from  God?  And  tlien  look  round  and  see  what  the  neglect 
of  this  and  of  other  religious  duty  has  brought  the  morals  of 
the  people  to,  and  let  the  awful  absence  of  the  fear  of  God 
every  where  visiljle,  warn  you  to  try  another  course,  and  en- 
gage you  to  "ask  for  the  old  paths — where  is  the  good  way, 
and  to  walk  therein,  that  you  may  find  rest  for  your  souls." 
And  may  God  bless  this  endeavor  to  state  plainly  his  truth, 
and  recall  you  to  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord,  for  Jesus 
Chkist's  sake.    Amen. 


SERMON  II. 


CONFIRMATION. 


Acts  xv.  41.  * 
"And  be  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches." 

Tl)e  person  here  spoken  of,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  is  the 
apostle  St.  Paul;  and  the  work  he  is  represented  as  engaged 
in,  must  be  considered  as  of  importance  to  their  religious 
advancement,  and  in  sucli  a  sense  important,  as  connected 
with  the  assurance  of  their  Faith.  This  I  trust  will  appear 
evident  to  you,  my  hearers,  when  you  recollect  that,  at  the 
time  here  spoken  of,  the  Gentile  Christians  had  no  Scriptures 
of  any  kind,  as  a  fixed  standard  to  which  to  refer  for  the  trial 
of  their  laith.  More  particularly  they  had  not  as  yet  the 
Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  to  which  to  bring  both 
their  faith  and  hope.  Everything  depended  on  the  evidence 
the  ministers  of  Christ  were  enabled  to  give,  of  the  authority 
by  which  they  spake  and  acted.  Without  this  there  could 
have  been  no  claim  on  their  obedience,  iior  could  the  guilt 
of  unbelief  and  rejection  of  the  gospel  have  been  charged 
upon  them. 

Hence  we  discern  the  importance  of  St.  Paul's  personal 
ministry  to  these  newly  planted  Churches,  and  how  much 
depended  upon  the  authority  by  which  he  acted,  for  the 
assurance  of  their  faith. 

To  suppose,  however,  that  the  promulgation  and  spread  of 
the  Scriptures  has  done  away  the  importance  of  this  evidence 
to  us,  and  that  the  Bible  is  a  substitute  for  it,  can  proceed 
only  from  ignorance,  prejudice,  or  interested  motive;  because 
the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
things  they  are  connected  with,  derive  their  whole  certainty, 
and  by  consequence  their  efficacy,  from  the  authority  by 
which  they  are  administered. 

Having  before  us  then  tliis  day  the  performance  of  tlie  like 
duty,  it  appeared  re:usonable  for  the  edification  and  assurance 

[Vol.  1,— ''^17.] 


258  CONFIRMATION. 

of  those  most  interested,  to  take  this  brief  notice  of  a  point 
now  too  much  overlooked  iu  the  Christian  conimnnity,  that 
they  might  with  the  greater  confidence,  both  dedicate  them- 
selves to  God,  and  expect  those  spiritual  blessings  which 
he  has  been  pleased  to  annex,  in  the  ordinary  administrations 
of  his  grace,  to  the  use  of  outward  means. 

The  words  of  my  text  may  be  thought,  by  some,  remote 
from  the  particular  obj'ect  now  before  us.  But  whether  we 
take  the  expression  "confirming  the  churches,"  in  the  extend- 
ed sense  of  animating  and  encouraging  them  by  his  exhort- 
ations, by  his  counsel,  by  his  example  and  authority,  to 
steadfastness  and  increase  in  faith  and  holiness;  or  use  it  in 
the  more  restrained  sense  of  administering  those  sacred  rites 
and  holy  ordinances  of  Christ's  religion,  which  are  by  divine 
appointment,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  outward  and  visible 
signs  of  God's  mercy  and  grace,  and  means  or  channels 
whereby  we  receive  the  same;  we  are  equally  furnished  with 
the  warrant  of  apostolic  usage,  for  the  performance  of  a  like 
duty  to  the  same  gracious  end.  The  text  therefore  needs  no- 
forcing  to  suit  my  purpose,  more  especially  as  I  trust  to  show, 
beyond  all  reasonable  ground  of  objection,  that  the  more 
special  purpose  of  our  assembling  together  at  this  time,  formed 
a  part  of  that  duty  which  the  apostle  performed  in  this  visit 
to  the  churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia. 

The  subject  under  consideration  being  the  ordinance  or 
rite  of  confirmation,  I  shall  discourse  upon  it,  for  your  edifi- 
cation, under  the  following  heads: 

FiKST.  The  origin  and  authority  of  this  ordinance,  as  used  Id 
the  Church  of  Christ  from  the  very  beginning  of  Christianity. 

Secondly.  The  purpose  or  design  ■vrith  which  it  was  ad- 
ministered in  the  primitive  Church. 

Thirdly.  Its  use  and  propriety,  as  continued  in  the  Church 
to  this  day. 

FocRTHLY.  I  shall  point  out  the  qualifications  necessaiy 
to  those  who  would  receive  it  with  advantage. 

"And  he  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia  confirming  the 
Churches." 

First,  I  am  to  lay  before  you  the  origin  and  authority  of 
this  ordinance  of  confirmation,  as  used  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  from  the  very  beginning  of  Christianity. 


CONFIEMATION.  259 

For  this,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  as  for  all  the  other 
appointments  of  God's  wisdom  and  mercy,  in  the  redemption 
and  salvation  of  sinners,  we  must  go  to  the  Scriptures  of  our 
faith;  whatever  is  not  there  set  forth  for  our  learning,  or 
commanded  for  our  obedience,  cannot  be  essential  in  our 
practice.  !Nor  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  can  it  be  safe  for  us 
to  reject  or  lay  aside  what  is  there  set  forth,  as  an  ordinance 
of  our  religion,  which  has  the  sanction  of  apostolic  usage, 
and  a  reasonable  and  profitable  application. 

Coeval,  then,  with  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  of 
religion  in  the  Church  of  Cueist,  we  find  it  to  have  been  the 
practice  of  his  apostles  to  follow  the  sacrament  of  baptism, 
sometimes  immediately,  sometimes  more  remotely  in  point 
of  time,  with  the  imposition  of  their  hands,  together  with 
prayer,  that  the  persons  who  by  baptism  had  become  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ,  might  in  this,  the  ordinary  and  appointed 
mode,  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whether  that  was 
in  the  communication  of  those  extraordinary  operations  which 
at  the  first  evidenced  the  divine  original  of  the  gospel,  and 
of  the  authority  of  those  to  whom  it  was  recommitted;  or  in 
the  more  ordinary,  more  necessary,  and  more  frequent  eflects 
of  his  presence  as  the  promised  comforter,  guide,  and  santifier 
of  Christ's  disciples.  And  the  first  instance  of  its  adminis- 
tration is  mentioned  in  the  eiglith  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the 
apostles,  under  these  circumstances. 

Philip,  who  was  ordained  one  of  the  seven  deacons,  or  in- 
ferior ministers  of  the  Church,  driven  by  the  persecution  con- 
sequent on  the  death  of  Stephen,  from  Jerusalem,  went  down 
to  Samaria,  and  preached  Christ  unto  them;  and  by  the 
power  of  his  doctrine,  and  the  evidence  of  the  miracles  which 
lie  wrought  in  proof  of  its  divine  origin,  converted  them  to 
the  faith,  and  baptized  them.  We  learn  further,  however, 
my  hearers,  that  though  they  were  converted  and  baptized, 
there  was  yet  something  more  provided  for  their  furtherance 
in  the  faith,  which  Philip,  though  a  minister  of  Christ,  and 
clothed  with  miraculous  power,  could  not  confer  upon  them. 

Hence  we  read,  that  when  the  apostles,  who  were  at  Jeru- 
salem, heard  that  a  Church  was  gathered  at  Samaria,  they 
sent  two  of  their  body,  Peter  and  John,  who  went  down  to 
them,  and  prayed  for  them,  and  laid  their  hands  upon  them,. 


260  CONTIKMATION. 

and  then  and  tliereby,  as  tbe  aj)pointed  means,  they  received 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  next  instance  of  the  exercise  of  this  apostolic  ordinance, 
recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  is  in  the  nineteentli  chapter  of  the 
same  book,  where  St.  Paul  having  baptized  some  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  John  the  baptist,  afterwards  laid  his  hands  upon 
them,  by  M'hich  act  they  received  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  and  spake 
with  tongues,  and  prophesied. 

From  these  two  instances  then,  we  learn,  my  brethren  and 
hearers,  that  a  sacred  and  significant  ordinance  or  religious 
rite,  subsequent  to  and  connected  with  the  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism, has  the  same  origin  and  authority  with  our  holy  religion, 
and  is  as  much  a  part  of  it,  as  the  sabbath  and  the  sacra- 
ments. And  when  we  are  further  informed,  as  Ave  are  by 
this  same  apostle,  that  this  ordinance  or  rite,  under  the  name 
of  laying  on  of  hands,  is  among  the  first  principles  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  our  regard  for,  and  observance  of  it,  must  be 
greatly  increased;  as  must  also  be  our  admiration  tliat  in  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  professing  Christian  world  it  should  be 
so  lightly  esteemed,  and  abandoned  in  the  use;  for  without 
any  dispute,  first  principles,  in  all  institutions,  whether  civil 
or  religious,  are  sacred,  and  can  neither  be  departed  from 
without  danger,  nor  abrogated  without  guilt. 

In  the  sixth  chajjter  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
we  find  that  apostle,  in  enumerating  the  principles  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ,  including  laying  on  of  hands,  in  connexion 
with  baptism.  And  in  the  third  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to 
Titus,  he  speaks  of  the  washing  of  regeneration,  together  with 
the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  parts  or  principles  in 
that  salvation,  which  "God  our  Saviour  hath  shed  on  us 
abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour."  From  all 
which,  and  from  the  practice  of  every  apostolic  Church,  con- 
tinued unto  this  day;  we  feel  and  believe  that  it  was  intended 
so  to  be  continued,  and  that  b}'  abandoning  it,  we  should  de- 
prive the  Church  of  an  appointed  means  of  grace,  and  of  a 
ground  of  assurance  to  all  her  devout  members.  Our  hojje 
of  salvation,  my  brethren  and  friends,  if  it  be  a  good  hope, 
is  so  interwoven  with  conformity  to  the  gospel,  and  the  assu- 
rance of  faith  so  dependent  for  its  reality  on  the  authoiity 
by  which  the  outward  and  sensible  signs  of  invisible  things, 


CONFIRMATION.  261 

the  sacraments  and  ordinances  of  the  Church,  are  adminis- 
tered and  received,  that  we  dare  not  venture  to  add  to,  or 
diminish  from,  the  pattern  given  us  in  the  jDrimitive  Church; 
or  to  cast  oif  a  practice,  which  tlien  was,  and  now  is,  so  help- 
ful, in  confirming  to  believers  the  promises  of  the  gospel; 
which  rests  upon  such  clear  declarations  of  God's  hoi j  word, 
and  such  safe  interpretation  of  their  meaning,  as  that  of  apos- 
tolic usage.  Eememl)er,  I  praj  jou,  my  brethren,  that  it  is 
one  thing  to  take  assurance  in  matters  of  faith,  it  is  quite  a 
different  thing  to  be  entitled  to  it. 

More  especially  is  the  continuance  of  this  ordinance  in  the 
Church,  at  the  present  day,  of  the  highest  use  and  impor- 
tance; by  reason  that  in  the  natural  and  regular  course  of 
things,  the  saci'ament  of  baptism,  which  at  the  first  was  ad- 
ministered chiefly,  thougli  not  solely,  to  adults,  or  grown  up 
persons,  came  to  be  administered  to  their  children.  For  as 
the  promise  was  to  them  and  to  their  children,  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt,  that  as  soon  as  there  were  those,  in  any 
Christian  society-,  who  could  be  the  subjects  of  this  grace,  its 
benefits  were  applied  to  them.  And  I  appeal  to  everj'  Chris- 
tian mother  present,  whether  she  would  not  just  as  soon  with- 
hold the  breast  from  the  infant,  as  the  infant  from  the  grace 
of  God  given  in  baptism  duly  and  rightly  administei'ed. 

When  these  infants,  therefore,  came  to  years  of  discretion, 
to  understand  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  Christian  obliga- 
tion, and  M-ere  desirous  iu  their  own  persons  to  make  profes- 
sion of  their  faith  in  Chkist,  to  take  upon  themselves  their 
baptismal  vows,  and  dedicate  themselves  to  the  cause  of  God 
and  religion,  the}'  were  provided,  in  this  apostolic  ordinance, 
with  the  means  of  doing  so,  in  a  manner  calculated  both  to 
impress  and  encourage  them. 

It  is  calculated  to  impress  them  with  the  deepest  reverence, 
from  the  solemn  nature  of  the  engagements  entered  into,  and 
from  tiie  preparatiun  required,  from  its  being  transacted  in 
public,  with  the  Bishop  or  chief  governor  of  the  Church,  by 
whom  in  person  could. this  office  alone  be  performed. 

It  is  calculated  to  encourage  them,  by  the  fullest  assurance 
of  all  spiritual  help  given  them  for  the  performance  of  their 
Christian  duties,  by  the  prayers  of  the  whole  Church  in  their 
behalf,  and  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  him,  to  whom  is 


262  CONFIRlMATIOTSr. 

committed,  according  to  the  appointment  of  Christ,  the  dis- 
pensing of  his  mysteries  in  the  Chnrch. 

Hence  it  is  called  Confirmation,  because  it  is  a  public  rat- 
ifying or  confirming  of  the  joint  obligation  entered  into  at 
baptism,  between  God  and  his  creature;  and  because  it  is,  to 
every  true  believer,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  certified 
by  an  appropriate  sign. 

With  these  scriptural,  reasonable,  and  profitable  claims  on 
the  observance  of  all  Christian  people,  it  is  surely  worthy  of 
the  most  serious  consideration,  why  it  has  been  abandoned 
by  any  denomination,  or  how  it  is  possible  to  find  a  substi- 
tute for  it,  in  any  of  those  inventions  of  men,  wlio,  wise  in 
their  own  conceits,  venture  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  heaven,  and  to  alter  and  amend  the  gospel,  and  its 
ordinances,  as  if  it  were  a  constitution  of  civil  government, 
or  a  regulation  of  civil  society.  We  are  told  by  way  of 
warning,  my  hearers,  by  Him  who  knew  to  its  root  the  pride 
and  j)resumption  of  our  fallen  natures' — "that  there  is  a  way 
which  seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the 
ways  of  death."  Let  us  ever  reverently  bear  in  mind,  my 
brethren  and  friends,  that  our  religion,  in  all  its  parts,  is  the 
appointment  of  heaven  for  our  good;  that  in  its  every  office 
there  is  a  purpose  of  divine  wisdom  to  be  answered,  and  that 
we  never  can  be  safe,  (safe  in  such  a  sense  as  alone  ought  to 
satisfy  a  rational  being,  on  the  unspeakable  interests  of  eter- 
nity,) unless  we  are  built  on  the  joint  agreement  of  God's 
word  and  God's  authority.  These  two  he  hath  seen  good  to 
join  indissolubly  together,  for  our  comfort  and  assurance. 
That  which  God  hath  joined,  therefore,  let  no  man  ventui'e 
to  put  asunder. 

Secondly,  I  come  now,  in  the  second  place,  to  poiiit  out  to 
you  the  purpose  and  design  with  which  it  was  administered 
in  the  primitive  Church. 

This,  as  has  been  already  showed  in  part,  was  to  draw 
down  upon  the  person  or  persons  confirmed,  the  blessing  of 
God,  in  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  seal  of  their  cove- 
nant state,  the  witness  to  their  adoption  into  the  family  of 
Christ,  and  the  root  or  spring  whence  all  holy  desires,  all 
good  counsels,  and  all  just  works  do  proceed.  This  was  al- 
ways the  chief  design  of  this  ordinance — whether  the  pre- 


CONFIRMATION.  263 

sence  of  the  Holt  Spirit  was  manifested  bv  those  extraordi- 
nary gifts  which  were  for  signs  to  them  that  believed  not. 
and  for  the  spread  and  advancement  of  the  gospel;  or  bv 
those  ordinary,  but  more  essential  operations  of  his  power, 
b}^  which  the  heart  is  sanctified  to  God,  and  the  life  devoted 
to  his  service. 

But  another  purpose  also  was  intended  to  be  answered  by 
this  ordinance  of  confirmation — which  was,  to  establish  be- 
lievers in  the  vital  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  the  Church.  A 
doctrine  which  our  Lord  laid  down  with  the  utmost  plain- 
ness and  precision,  as  decisive  of  the  fellowship  to  which  we 
are  called  by  the  gospel,  and  which  his  apostles  pressed  upon 
their  converts  with  the  utmost  earnestness,  but  which  seems 
now  to  be  nearly  lost  sight  of,  in  a  divided  Christian  world. 
"There  is  one  body,"  says  St.  Paul  to  the  Ephesians,  "and 
one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  with  one  hope  of  your  call- 
ing," Therefore  the  poM-er  to  impart  the  gifts  of  the  Spirft, 
whether  ordinary  or  extraordinary,  was  confined,  after  the 
ascension  of  Christ,  to  his  apostles,  and  to  such  as  they  com- 
missioned to  govern  the  Churches  in  his  name.  Hence  we 
find  St.  Paul  appealing  to  tliis,  the  sign  or  mark  of  an  apos- 
tle of  Christ,  manifested  in  his  person,  as  an  argument  with 
the  Corinthian  and  Galatian  Ciinrches,  to  recover  them  from 
the  heresy  and  schism  into  which  they  had  been  seduced. 
(Have  Christians  of  the  present  day  lost  the  meaning  of  these 
words — or  has  any  revelation  been  made  b}^  which  the  crime 
is  no  longer  possible?)  "I  am  jealous  over  you  with  a  godly 
jealousy,"  says  he  to  the  Corinthian  Church,  "lest  by  any 
means  your  minds  should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity 
tliat  is  in  Christ.  For  if  he  that  cometh  preacheth  another 
Jesus,  or  if  ye  receive  another  Spirit,  or  another  gospel," 
then  may  you  reasonably  dispute  ray  claim.  "But  such 
are  false  apostles,  deceitful  workers,  transforming  themselves 
into  the  apostles  of  Christ.  For  truly  the  signs  of  an  apos- 
tle were  wrougiit  among  you  (by  me)  in  all  patience,  in  signs 
and  wonders,  and  mighty  deeds." 

In  like  manner  he  argues  with  the  Galatians  on  the  same 
subject.  "I  marvel  (says  he)  that  ye  are  so  soon  removed 
from  Him  that  called  you  into  the  Grace  of  Christ,  unto 
another  gospel.     O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched 


264  CONFIKMATION. 

you?  This  only  would  I  learn  of  you,  Eeceived  ye  the  Spir- 
it by  the  works  of  the  law,  or  by  the  hearing  of  faith?  He, 
therefore,  that  ministereth  the  Spirit  to  you,  and  worketh 
miracles  among  you,  doeth  he  it  by  the  works  of  the  law,  or 
by  the  hearing  of  faith?"  And  thus  could  every  individual 
Christian,  as  well  as  every  Christian  Church,  determine  sa- 
tisfactorily on  the  truth  and  certainty  of  their  interest  in 
Christ,  by  this  standing  witness  to  the  Divine  Authority  of 
those  by  whom  the  gospel  was  preached,  and  the  sacraments 
and  ordinances  of  the  Church  administered  to  them.  And 
well  would  it  be  for  Christians  of  the  present  day  to  consider 
whether  they  have  any  other,  or  better,  means  of  determin- 
ing such  important  questions. 

At  this  stage  of  the  subject,  we  are  prepared  to  inquire, 
whether  this  particular  ordinance  of  confirmation,  known  in 
the  apostles'  days  by  the  name  of  laying  on  of  hands,  formed 
part  of  the  duty  performed  by  St.  Paul  in  this  visit  to  the 
Churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia. 

The  opinion  that  it  did,  rests  on  the  following  circumstan- 
ces. An  interval  of  seven  yeare,  at  the  least,  had  passed, 
according  to  the  chronology  of  the  Bible,  from  the  time  tiiey 
had  first  received  the  gospel  nntil  this  visit  from  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  In  that  space  of  time  many  converts  were  doubt- 
less added  to  the  Church,  who  required,  and  were  equally 
entitled  to  the  benefit  and  assurance  of  apostolic  ministra- 
tions with  those  who  preceded  them — to  say  nothing  of  those 
younger  members  of  baptized  households,  who  must  in  this 
time  have  grown  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  tlie 
Lord,  and  been  prepared  to  make  a  public  profession  of 
Christianity.  When,  therefore,  we  find  this  ordinance,  un- 
der the  name  of  laying  on  of  hands,  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures 
as  one  of  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ — when 
we  find  that  it  was  practiced  b}''  the  apostles,  in  cojmexion 
with  the  sacrament  of  baptism — that  it  was  used  by  St.  Paul 
himself:  when  we  hear  hira  appealing  to  the  Corinthian  and 
Galatian  Churches,  led  away  into  heresy  and  schism — by  this 
personal  proof  to  them  of  his  authority  as  a  minister  of  Christ, 
under  the  name  of  ministering  and  receiving  the  Spirit — 
when,  above  all,  we  reflect  that  to  apostolic  hands  was  com- 
mitted the  power  of  communicating  the  Spirit,  whether  in 


CONFIEMATIOISr.  265 

his  ordinary  or  extraordinary  operations — you,  my  hearers, 
must  jndge  whether  the  text  is  forced  to  the  subject,  or  whe- 
ther it  is  such  a  fair  and  reasonable  inference,  as  it  is  our 
duty  to  make  from  the  known  cliaracter  of  the  apostles  and 
the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

There  was  yet  a  further  purpose,  however,  to  which  this 
ordinance  was  applied  in  the  primitive  Church,  but  subse- 
quent to  the  times  of  the  apostles,  which  I  will  mention. 

It  was  believed  to  obviate  and  cure  any  defects,  either  of 
irregularity  or  want  of  authority,  in  the  administration  of 
baptism.  Hence,  such  persons  as  had  been  baptized  in  in- 
fancy either  by  laymen  or  by  ministers  of  heretical  Churches, 
when  they  came  afterwards  to  a  better  mind  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  and  were  desirous  to  join  the  true  apostolic  Church 
of  Christ,  had  the  deficiencies  of  their  baptism  remedied  by 
the  toying  on  of  the  iiands  of  the  Bishop:  for  it  was  an  early 
decision  of  the  Council  uf  the  Church,  that  as  there  was  but 
one  baptism,  it  ought  nut  to  be  repeated,  even  where  irregu- 
larity and  defect  of  authority  attended  it. 

Observations  of  this  description  appear  strange,  and  of  an 
obsolete  character,  to  many  of  you,  I  doubt  not,  my  hearers; 
but  they  belong  to  the  sul)ject — they  are  necessary  to  ex])lain 
and  enforce  it,  as  a  Chi'istian  ordinance,  and  a  Christian  duty; 
and  in  their  just  application  they  belong  to  thousands,  who 
are  accountable  tor  gos])el  privileges,  fur  the  light  of  life  in 
the  word  of  Chkist,  and  for  saving  ordinances — but  who 
quench  them  all,  in  the  pride  and  poverty  of  human  author- 
ity;— who  search  not  the  Scriptures  for  thus  saith  the  Lord, 
but  blindly  follow  the  thus  saith  the  sect  or  leader,  to  whom 
they  have  attached  themselves — and  they  are  mentioned  on 
this  occasion  to  awaken  your  attention  to  what  can  never  pi-e- 
judice  your  eternal  interest,  to-wit:  the  ground  of  your  hope, 
the  foundation  on  which  you  are  all  building  it,  with  this  ad- 
ditional remark,  which  I  beseech  you  to  take  to  your  niost 
serious  consideration — that  the  sacraments  and  ordinances  of 
the  gopel  are  of  divine  appointment,  and  can  only  be  lawfully 
administered  by  divine  authority — that  Christian  privileges, 
gospel  hope,  and  Scri])tural  assurance,  are  all  founded  on 
covenant  engagements,  and  are  only  to  be  enjoyed  by  us  as 
we  are  faithful  to  the  engagement  on  our  part — that  sincerity 


^6  CONFIRMATION. 

in  error  is  no  excuse  for  it,  and  that  all  this  flows  from  the 
unalterable  Scripture  declaration,  "Other  foundation  can  no 
man  lay,  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Curist." 

III.  Thirdly,  I  am  to  point  out  its  use  and  propriety,  as 
continued  in  the  Church  to  this  day. 

]!!v^ow,  whatever  this  was  in  the  primitive  Church,  the  same 
in  its  degree  is  it  in  the  present  day,  "For  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever." 

The  only  difficulty  on  the  subject  grows  out  of  the  close 
connexion  of  this  ordinance  with  miraculous  gifts  as  used  in 
the  primitive  Church.  But  when  we  know,  as  we  do,  my 
brethren,  from  the  word  of  God,  that  this  was  not  the  sole 
purpose  of  its  administration,  but  that  it  was  the  appointed 
means  of  obtaining  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  those  gifts  and  graces 
"whicii  are  universally  necessary  to  salvation,  the  difficulty 
should  be  done  away,  and  all  stand  prepared  to  submit  tiiem- 
selves  to  the  righteousness  of  God  in  any  and  every  ai^jioint- 
ment  of  his  wisdom  for  the  communication  of  his  grace. 

The  unity  of  the  Churcli  also, — by  which  is  meant  the 
union,  fellowship,  or  agreement  of  believers  in  the  faith,  doc- 
trine, worship,  and  authority  of  that  one  spouse  and  body  of 
Christ,  which  he  bought  with  his  own  blood,  and  in  com- 
munion with  which  only,  are  the  promises  of  God  yea  and 
amen  to  us  in  Christ, — is  of  as  great  importance  to  us  now 
as  to  the  primitive  Christians.  And  though  vre  cannot  evi- 
dence our  title  to  this  distinction  b}'  miraculous  powers,  yet 
we  can  avouch  the  authority  of  those  to  whom  miracles  were 
given  for  the  establishment  of  the  Church,  transmitted  down 
to  us  by  a  verifiable  succession  for  your  benefit.  And  by  the 
orders  of  the  ministry,  the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  and 
this  ordinance,  we  show  that  we  continue  "in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and 
prayers;"  and  we  only  ask  tliose  who  in  any  of  these  particu- 
lars act  difierently,  to  show  an  equally  safe  and  satisfactory 
ground  of  trust  in  matters  of  faith. 

In  the  application  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism  to  infants, 
however,  (a  practice  which  stands  on  the  same  ground  of 
divine  authority  with  the  Scriptures  and  the  Christian  sab- 
bath,) both  the  use  and  the  propriety  of  continuing  this  rite 
in  the  Church  is  most  clearly  evidenced. 


CONFIEMATION.  267 

That  those  who  have  been  dedicated  to  God  in  their  in- 
fancy, and  by  the  providence  and  permission  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  have  been  admitted  to  become  parties  to 
the  covenant  of  grace,  should,  on  obtaiDinJ^a  suitable  sense 
of  the  benefits  conferred  on  them,  and  of  the  weighty  obliga- 
tions they  have  come  under,  manifest  their  thankfulness,  and 
ratify  in  their  own  persons  the  engagements  entered  into  for 
them,  is  the  dictate  both  of  reason  and  religion.  From  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  therefore,  it  has  been  the  rule  of  the 
Church  to  receive  such  as  were  baptized  in  infancy,  to  full 
fellowship  and  communion  by  this  ordinance  of  confirmation, 
in  which  the  person  confirmed  renews  or  ratifies,  before  the 
assembled  congregation,  the  baptismal  covenant,  with  a  full 
understanding  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  obligations  he 
or  she  comes  under — enters  into  a  most  solemn  engagement 
to  fulfil  the  duties  of  the  Christian  life,  and,  before  many 
witnesses,  makes  that  good  confession  of  Christ,  which  is  re- 
quired of  every  believer.  And  the  Church  receiving  this 
accession  to  her  communion,  invokes  the  blessing  of  God  on 
the  engagement  made,  and  by  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of 
her  chief  oflicers,  imparts  that  Holy  Spirit  which  was  given 
to  abide  with  her  for  ever,  for  the  comfort,  strength,  and 
sanctification  of  all  her  members. 

In  the  sacrament  of  baptism  rightly  administered,  we  re- 
ceive by  the  Holy  Ghost,  spiritual  regeneration,  together 
with  remission  of  sins,  whether  original  or  actual.  But  un- 
less we  cast  away  from  us  the  authority  of  God's  word,  and 
seek  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  it  is  by  this  divine  ap- 
pointment of  laying  on  of  hands,  that  we  receive  such  mea- 
sure of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  is  required  to  enable  us  to  over- 
come the  world,  to  resist  the  devil,  deny  the  flesh,  to  figlit 
the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  lay  hold  on  eternal  life. 

By  the  continuance  of  this  ordinance  in  the  administra- 
tions of  the  Church,  a  strong  objection  against  the  ba])tism 
of  infants  is  removed. 

It  is  objected,  that  it  is  a  mockery  to  administer  a  soleum 
sacrament  to  a  creature  unconscious  of  any  thing  that  is  done; 
and  that  it  is  unjust  to  bind  any  one  by  the  assent  of  another, 
without  the  privity  and  concurrence  of  the  person  bound. 
These  objections,  my  brethren,  are  more  specious  than  solid, 
and  carry  on  their  face  the  mark  of  this  world's  wisdom. 


268  CONFIRMATION. 

In  reply,  it  may  briefly  be  observed,  that  it  is  nevertheless 
just  such  a  mockery  as  God  commanded  and  countenanced 
in  the  Old  Testament  Church  in  the  ordinance  of  circum- 
cision, which  is«o  where  forbidden  in  the  gospel,  which  the 
apostles  of  Christ  sanctioned,  and  which  the  records  of  the 
Church  show  to  have  been  the  practice- from  the  days  of  St. 
John  the  beloved  disciple.  And  just  such  a  piece  of  injustice 
as  is  most  readily  allowed  in  temporal  things  for  their  benefit. 

But  whatever  weight  any  may  be  disposed  to  give  to  ob- 
jections of  this  character,  must  be  removed  by  the  provision 
made  in  this  ordinance  for  their  taking  upon  themselves  with, 
understanding  and  seriousness,  the  obligations  and  privileges 
of  that  sacrament.  While  there  is  abundant  cause  of  thanks- 
giving to  God  that  by  this  mockery,  as  it  is  profanely  called, 
these  unconscious  creatures  have  been  taken  care  of,  trained 
up  and  nurtured  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  prayed  for,  and 
prepared  for  those  fuller  communications  of  bis  grace  and 
good  Spirit,  promised  to  carry  them  onward  in  the  divine 
life  "unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ." 

Having  thus,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  laid  before  you — 
though  in  a  very  brief  and  inadequate  manner, — the  origin, 
authority,  and  use  of  this  ordinance  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
I  will  now,  as  was  proposed  in  the  fourth  place,  point  out  the 
qualifications  necessary  to  those  who  would  receive  it  with 
advantage. 

The  first  qualification  I  will  mention,  is  knowledge,  by 
which  is  meant  such  an  acquaintance  with  what  God  hath 
revealed  to  us  of  the  condition  of  man,  of  his  purposes  of 
mercy  in  Christ,  of  the  means  of  grace,  and  of  the  duties  and 
obligations  of  a  Christian,  as  all  may  attain  to  from  reading 
the  Sci-iptures,  and  the  instructions  of  pious  friends. 

Secondl}^  a  devout  and  serious  spirit,  or  religious  frame  of 
mind.  This  is  essential  to  any  expectation  of  advantage  from 
this  or  any  other  ordinance  of  religion.  And  if  any  thing 
can  produce  such  a  frame  of  mind,  it  surely  must  be  present 
when  we  come  forward  in  the  face  of  the  Church,  to  enter 
into  solemn  covenant  with  God  in  Christ,  and  in  the  terms 
and  spirit  of  the  baptismal  vow,  to  renounce  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil,  to  believe  in  God  and  to  serve  him,  with 


CONFIEMATIOlSr.  269 

tlie  firm  though  humble  expectation  of  being  enabled,  by  his 
good  Spieit,  to  keep  this  vow,  unto  our  life's  end. 

Thirdly,  repentance,  by  which  is  meant  a  hearty  and  sin- 
cere sorrow  for  all  the  sins,  negligences,  ancl  ignorances,  we 
Ijave  been  personally  guilty  of  against  God  and  our  neighbor, 
with  real  purpose  of  amended  life.  And  this  evidenced  by 
luimble  confession  of  them  to  God,  with  prayer  for  pardon  of 
them  through  the  merits  of  Ciikist — by  earnest  endeavors  to 
repair  any  wrong  done  or  oifence  committed  against  our 
neighbor — and  by  a  change  or  alteration  in  our  former  course 
of  bfe. 

The  last  fpialification  I  shall  mention  is  faith;  by  which  is 
to  be  understood,  in  this  case,  such  a  belief  of  what  God  hath 
spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son,  with  such  reliance  on  the  promises 
made  us  througli  him,  as  to  lead  us  to  desire  and  earnestly 
to  expect  the  fulfilment  of  them;  and  with  such  trust  and  con- 
fidence in  the  means  he  hath  appointed  for  the  communica- 
tion of  his  grace,  as  enables  us  cordially  and  joyfully  to  use 
them. 

Examine  yourselves,  then,  my  brethren,  who  now  mean  to 
ratity  and  confirm  your  baptismal  engagements,  whether  you 
are  thus  prepared,  whether  you  can  now,  with  a  good  con- 
science, makeihat  full  and  unreserved  surrender  of  yourselves 
to  God,  which  his  service  requii'es,  that  open  ccmfession  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  God,  your  saviour  and  your  king,  which 
Jiis  religion  demands  from  all  who  would  be  his  disciples  in- 
deed, and  that  firm  determination  to  obey  the  gospel  which 
its  precepts  enjoin.  For  confirmation  is  only  another  name 
for  your  solemn  dedication  of  yourselves  to  God  and  his  Sox 
— an  open  renunciation  of  the  world,  and  separation  of  your- 
selves, from  henceforth,  from  its  unlawful  and  unhallowed 
pursuits. 

If  you  are  thus  cjualified  and  pre})ared,  I  can  answer  for 
tlie  eifect — the  blessing  awaits  you,  and  there  is  help  at  hand 
to  go  on  \mto  perfection.  If  you  are  not  thus  qualified,  make 
not  a  mockery  of  sacred  things,  but  let  your  deficiency  deepen 
your  penitence,  and  quicken  your  endeavor  in  preparing  to 
meet  your  Saviour  in  the  appointments  of  his  grace  upon 
earth,  that  you  may  thereby  be  prepared  to  meet  him  with 
joy,  and  not  with  grief,  in  his  heavenly  kingdom. 


270  CONFIKMATION. 

Yet  let  none  be  deterred  by  timidity  of  spirit,  humility  of 
mind,  or  unreasonable  fears,  that  tbey  are  not  good  enough 
to  offer  themselves  to  God;  you  can  surely  tell  whether  you 
sincerely  desire  and  seek  the  favor  of  God,  and  the  life  of 
the  world  to  come.  If  you  do  long  for  this  happy  frame  of 
mind,  let  your  wants  be  your  warrant  to  come  to  Christ,  for 
this  is  a  gracious  ordinance:  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  are 
weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Unto  this 
man  will  I  look,  saith  the  Lord,  even  to  him  tliat  is  of  a  con- 
trite heart,  and  of  an  humble  spirit,  and  tliat  trembleth  at 
my  word."  Heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  encouragement  to 
the  penitent — to  such  "the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  come — 
and  let  him  that  heareth  say,  come — and  let  him  that  is 
athirst,  come — and  whosoever  will,  let  him  come,  and  take 
of  the  water  of  life  freely." 


seemo:n"  III, 


NATURE   AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   HOLY    COMMUNION. 


St.  Lcke  XXII.  19.  (last  clause.) 
"This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

Few  things  of  such  prime  importance  to  our  religious  con- 
dition are  so  little  understood,  it  is  to  be  feared,  as  the  nature 
and  design  of  the  sacraments  of  the  Church.  Of  the  small 
number,  comparatively  speaking,  who  come  to  them,  the 
number  is  still  smaller  of  those  who  rightly  apprehend  their 
purpose,  and  perceive  distinctly  the  solemn  obligation  entered 
into  by  their  observance. 

This  is  more  esj^ecially  the  case  with  the  sacrament  of 
baptism,  which  has  declined  in  the  estimation  of  the  great 
majority  of  those  who  bring  their  children  to  this  ordinance, 
into  a  mere  ceremony  for  giving  its  name  to  an  infant, 
coupled  perhaps  with  somewhat  of  a  superstitious  feeling. 
But  it  is  also  true,  in  a  degree  greatly  to  be  lamented,  of  the 
higlier  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  slight  influence  produced  upon  the  life,  in 
numbers  who  partake  of  it;  it  being  by  far  too  conamon,  for 
the  credit  of  the  Christian  profession,  to  see  in  those  who  are 
communicants,  as  much  eiigagement  with  the  world  as  if  they 
had  not  renounced  it  in  their  baptism,  and  solemnly  under- 
taken, over  the  broken  bod}^  and  shed  blood  of  their  Saviour, 
to  walk  in  newness  of  life. 

If  to  this  we  add,  that  entire  neglect  and  disregard  of  this 
divinely  appointed  ordinance,  which  the  great  majority  in 
Christian  lands  manifest,  it  presents  an  awful  proof  of  the  de- 
clining state  of  religion  among  ns,  and  calls  for  the  united 
exertions  of  ministers  and  members  to  withstand  this  evil; 
the  one  by  explaining  the  nature  and  design  of  the  institution, 
with  the  obligation  to  observe  it,  in  all  who  would  be  saved 
— the  other  by  showing,  in  the  example  of  their  lives,  its  in- 
fluence and  effect  as  a  means  of  grace. 


272         NATURE   AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   HOLY   COMMUNION. 

That  it  is  a  duty  which  no  baptized  person  can  excusably 
neglect,  there  can  be  no  question.  "This  do  in  remembrance 
of  me"  being  as  nnich  a  command  of  the  gospel,  as  "Thou 
shalt  not  kill"  is  of  the  decalogue;  and  let  us  ever  bear  in 
mind,  that  they  proceeded  from  the  same  mouth,  ar.d  will  bo 
enforced  by  that  supreme  authority  which  governs  all  things, 
in  heaven  and  upon  earth.  And  I  mention  this  to  awaken 
the  consciences  of  that  great  multitude  who,  though  they  are 
partakers  of  the  benefits  of  the  gospel,  are  yet  unaffected  by 
them,  and  in  an  especial  manner  withhold  themselves  from 
this  ordinance.  Kow  though  this  unjustifiable  neglect  most 
commonly  proceeds  from  a  real  and  visible  preference  of  the 
pleasures  of  sin,  in  some  of  its  many  and  deceitful  allure- 
ments; vet  in  some  cases,  and  those  not  infrequent,  ignorance 
of  the  nature  and  design  of  the  institution,  and  a  consequent 
erroneous  view  of  all  that  relates  to  it  as  a  positive  appoint- 
ment of  Christianity,  keeps  back  some  who  might  otherwise 
be  induced  to  make  this  good  confession  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
CuKisT  as  their  only  hope  of  acceptance  with  God. 

This  therefore  I  shall  endeavor  to  remove  by  laying  before 

you. 

First:  A  brief  explanation  of  the  word  Sacrament. 

Secondly:  I  shall  point  out  the  nature  and  design  of  the 
ordinance; 

And  then  conclude  with  an  enforcement  of  the  duty. 

"This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  lay  before  you  a  brief  explanation  of  the 
word  sacrament. 

It  may  perhaps  appear  strange  to  you,  iny  brethren  and 
Iiearers,  that  the  word  sacrament  is  not  used  in  the  Scrip- 
cures  as  applied  either  to  baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
that  the  original  word  in  the  Latin  language  translated  sacra 
ment  in  our  version,  lias  little  or  no  affinity  with  that  in  the 
original  Greek  in  the  JSTew  Testament,  for  which  it  has  been 
substituted.  It  is  nevertheless  the  case,  while  it  is  by  no 
means  clear  that  the  exchange  has  been  advantageous. 

In  its  most  common  use  the  original  Latin  word,  trans- 
lated sacrament,  was  applied  to  the  military  oath  by  which 
the  Roman  soldiers  pledged  themselves  to  their  general,  and 
jn  which,  being  heathens,  they  devoted  themselves  to  the  in- 


NATURE   AND    DESIGN   OF   THE   HOLT   COMMUNION.  273 

fernal  Gods  if  they  proved  unfaithful;  whereas  the  Greek 
word  for  which  this  was  substituted  denotes  what  we  express 
by  the  word  mystery;  that  is,  something  of  a  spiritual  and 
invisible  nature,  figured  out  by  an  external  and  visible  rep- 
resentation. And  as  the  word  mystery  was  chiefly  applied 
to  the  higher  and  more  sublime  superstitions  of  heathen  re- 
ligion, to  which  none  were  admitted  but  with  proper  qualifi- 
cations, and  under  the  most  solemn  obligations,  it  was  natu- 
rally and  properly  made  use  of  by  the  Apostle  to  express,  in 
like  manner,  both  the  obligations  and  the  expectations  con- 
tained in  the  most  sublime  appointments  of  the  Christian 
religion.  The  doubt  expressed,  that  the  exchange  of  the 
words  has  not  been  advantageous,  is  grounded  upon  this,  that 
by  reason  of  this  change,  the  obligations  incurred  are  mainly 
respected,  while  the  means  of  fulfilling  them  through  the  aid 
of  divine  grace,  specially  annexed  to  the  sacraments  of  the 
gospel,  and  an  integral  part  of  their  value  to  us,  is  not  suffi- 
ciently set  forth.  Especially  true  is  this  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  not  an  initiating  ordinance  like 
the  sacrament  of  baptism,  to  be  but  once  performed,  but  a 
continually  returning  duty,  involving  the  original  obligations 
entered  into  at  baptism,  with  the  assurance  thereby  pledged 
of  the  spiritual  help,  necessary  to  fulfil  them. 

This  however  is  only  so  far  of  im|)ortance,  my  brethren, 
as  it  may  serve  to  keep  your  minds  evenly  balanced;  equally 
free  from  a  low,  and  too  familiar,  view  of  the  ordinance,  as 
a  mere  memorial  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  from  an  inflated 
and  enthusiastic  notion  of  a  superstitious  sanctity,  alike  de- 
structive of  all  rational  performance  of  this,  or  of  any  other 
religious  duty.  For  the  word  sacrament  is  now  understood, 
by  all  well  instructed  Christians,  to  mean,  when  applied  to 
the  Lord's  supper,  not  simply  the  commemoration  of  our 
Saviour's  passion  for  us,  nor  yet  the  renewal  of  our  baptismal 
engagements;  nor  as  a  fresh  vow  of  fidelity  to  the  captain  of 
our  salvation,  as  soldiers  of  the  cross;  nor  yet  as  a  visible 
pledge  of  heaven's  mercy  and  favor,  to  all  who  worthily 
partake  of  it;  but  as  combining  all  these,  in  one  sublime  and 
sacred  mystery,  accompanied  by  visible  and  significant  sym- 
bols, ordained  by  Christ  himself,  for  the  perpetual  comfort 
and  assurance  of  all  his  faithful  disciples. 

[Vol.  1,— *18  J 


274         NATTIEE   AND   DESIGN   OF  THE   HOLT   COMMUNION, 

With  tliis  brief  explanation  of  the  word  Sacrament,  we 
shall  be  better  prepared,  I  trust,  to  apprehend  the  nature 
and  design  of  the  ordinance;  which  was  what  I  proposed,  iii 
the  second  place,  to  point  out  to  you. 

II.  All  appointments  of  a  ritual  and  ceremonial  description, 
in  religion,  are  rendered  necessary  by  the  corrupt  and  fallen 
condition  of  human  nature.  Through  this  depravation  of  our 
faculties,  we  naturally  prefer  things  present  and  sensible, 
however  transitory  in  their  nature,  to  those  which  are  remote 
and  invisible,  however  satisfied  we  may  be  of  their  superi- 
ority, both  in  degree  and  duration.  Of  this  the  proof  is,  alas, 
but  too  easy;  there  being  none  present,  who  aire  not  fully 
persuaded  of  the  infinite  disproportion  between  thing's  tem- 
poral and  eternal,  while  there  are  many,  who  are  in  no  way 
influenced  or  affected  by  this  acknowledged  difference.  A 
religion  therefore  wholly  spiritual,  and  abstracted  from  sen- 
sible things,  would  have  been  impracticable  to  creatures 
so  continually  acted  upon  by  external  objects,  while  their 
spiritual  faculties  were  deadened  and  perverted  by  the  enter- 
tainment of  sin.  To  meet  this,  the  actual  condition  of  human 
nature,  the  religion  Goo  hath  revealed  to  us,  is  most  wisely 
and  mercifully  adapted.  The  evidence  that  it  is  divine,  is 
so  full,  clear,  and  convincing,  as  to  render  inexcusable  all 
who  reject  or  neglect  it,  when  fairly  proposed  to  them.  The 
doctrines  it  teaches  are  so  consistent  with  the  perfections  of 
God,  and  so  fitted  to  the  imperfections  of  man,  so  adapted  to 
increase  his  happiness  in  this  life,  and  to  perpetuate  it  in 
eternity,  that  faith  and  obedience  are  enforced  by  the  purest 
and  highest  reason,  while  the  external  appointments  of  the 
gospel  in  things  ritual  and  positive  are  not  only  orderly  and 
decent  in  themselves,  but  calculated  moreover  to  give  vigor 
and  effect  to  tilings  moral  and  spiritual,  of  which  they  are  a 
figure. 

The  Church,  the  ministry,  and  the  sacraments,  thereforcy 
are  helps  to  faith;  resting  23laces,  as  it  were,  and  sensible 
objects,  on  which  our  poor  earthly  and  grovelling  minds  may 
repose,  while  contemplating  the  substance  of  those  shadows, 
as  we  journey  onwards  to  eternity;  and  they  are  therefore  of 
divine  institution,  that  om-  assurance  may  be  full  and  com- 
plete.   It  is  not,  however,  as  helps  to  faith  only,  that  these 


NATURE   AND  DESIGN   OF  THE   HOLT   COMMUNION.  275 

diyine  appointments  are  limited;  a  wise  and  merciful  God  hath 
been  graciously  pleased  to  constitute  tliem  channels,  or  means, 
of  that  spiritual  grace,  or  divine  assistance,  without  wliich 
we  can  do  nothing,  in  working  out  our  everlasting  salvation. 

With  respect,  therefore,  to  the  particular  ordinance  under 
consideration,  as  all  the  benefits  and  advantages  we  derive 
from  the  mercy  of  God  are  the  consequences  of  Christ's 
undertaking  for  us;  and  as  his  death  upon  the  cross  was  in 
full  satisfaction  of  the  penalty  we  had  incurred;  and  at  once, 
a  proof  of  the  highest  love  towards  us,  both  on  the  part  of 
God  the  Father,  in  laying  upon  his  beloved  Son  "the  iniquities 
of  us  all;"  and  on  the  part  of  this  beloved  Son,  in  freely  con- 
senting "to  bear  our  sins  in  his  own  body  upon  the  tree;"  this 
particular  circumstance,  of  his  humiliation  and  sufferings  in 
our  behalf,  has  been  consecrated  into  the  highest  and  most 
comprehensive,  the  most  solemn  and  efficacious  appointment, 
of  the  religion  he  has  established  in  the  world,  • 

Tlie  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  therefore,  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  memorial,  or  solemn  religious  commemoration, 
of  this  great  and  influential  event,  to  be  pei*petually  cele- 
brated by  all  his  true  disciples  and  worshippers,  until  the 
end  of  time.  Of  this  its  commemorative  nature,  we  have  an 
example  and  exposition  in  the  institution  of  the  passover'in 
the  Old  Testament  Church.  For  as  that  was  to  the  Jews  a 
constant  annual  memorial  of  their  deliverance  from  Egyptian 
bondage,  and  particularly  of  the  distinguishing  mercy  of  God 
in  sparing  those  households  which  were  marked  with  the 
blood  of  the  Paschal  Lamb,  when  he  smote  the  first  born  of 
the  land  of  Egypt  with  death;  in  like  manner,  and  by  the 
closest  analogy,  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  upon  the  cross  is  to 
Christians  the  perpetual  memorial  of  their  deliverance  from 
the  bondage  of  sin;  and  the  application  of  his  blood,  who  is 
the  true  Paschal  Lamb„the  only  shield  from  the  penalty  of 
eternal  death,  denounced  against  every  transgression  of  the 
holy  law  of  God. 

To  limit  this  solemn  ordinance,  however,  my  brethren,  to 
the  natui'e  of  a  mere  memorial,  after  the  manner  of  an  an- 
niversary commemoration  of  some  memorable  temporal 
event,  is  altogether  to  lose  sight  of  its  sacramental  character. 
For  it  is,  further,  in  the»nature  of  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice, 


276         NATUEE   AND   DESIGN   OF   TDE   HOLY   COMMUNION. 

that  is,  a  tliankful  and  joyful  religions  participation  of  in- 
stituted emblems — or  outward  and  visible  signs  of  a  sacrilice 
already  offered — from  the  efScacy  of  which  sacrifice,  all 
•beneiits  and  blessings  are  derived  to  redeemed  man.  Tims 
is  this  ordinance  every  way  adapted  to  our  condition,  my 
hearers;  what  is  outward  and  visible,  is  appointed  and  in- 
tended as  a  remembrancer,  a  help  to  faith — while  what  is 
signihed  thereby,  calls  forth  the  spiritual  faculties  of  the  soul, 
to  realize  the  exceeding  greatness  of  that  love,  wherewith 
"Cukist  hath  loved  us,  and  given  himself  for  us,"  and  stirs 
up  the  w^ll,  and  engages  the  affections,  to  cleave  to  his 
blessed  example  and  holy  truth,  and  walk  worthy  of  him  who 
hath  purchased  for  ns,  j^ardon,  grace,  and  everlasting  life. 

Li  the  design  of  this  sacrament,  also,  we  shall  hnd  the 
same  infinite  wisdom  put  forth  to  render  it  effectual  to  all  the 
spiritual  wants  of  our  condition;  and  in  this,  as  in  all  other, 
the  com^nands  of  God,  to  render  our  obedience  the  source  of 
our  comfort  and  happiness. 

Tlie  design,  therefore,  of  the  institution  of  this,  the  most 
solemn  ordinance  of  Chkist's  religion,  and  of  the  command 
— "Do  this,  in  remembrance  of  me,"  is,  First,  to  fix  and  im- 
print in  our  minds  a  deep  and  abiding  impression  of  his  pas- 
sion and  death,  as  the  most  effectual  motive  to  universal 
obedience. 

And  what,  ni}"  dear  hearers,  can  be  considered  a  more  power- 
ful argument,  to  persuade  and  prevail  upon  men  to  pursue 
the  paths  of  peace  and  holiness,  than  a  due  consideration  of 
the  exemplary  life,  and  meritorious  death,  of  our  blessed 
Saviour.  His  life  is  so  complete  a  pattern  of  all  vu'tue,  and 
his  death  so  conclusive  an  evidence  of  the  hatred  which  God 
bears  towards  sin,  that  whosoever  frequently  and  seriously 
meditates  upon  these  things,  can  be  at  no  loss  either  for  suf- 
ficient direction  or  for  the  most  powerful  motives,  to  a  holy 
life  upon  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 

"Wliat  more  powerful  antidote  to  temptation  than  to  behold 
Jesus  Christ,  and  him.  crucified,  evidently  set  forth  among 
us  in  the  sacramental  elements?  What  more  persuasive  ex- 
hortation against  all  the  deceits  of  sin,  than  the  proof  to  be 
dra^vn  from  the  death  of  Christ,  of  God's  hatred  of  sin,  and 
compassion  for  the  sinner?    And  what  more  aflecting  argu- 


NATURE   AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   HOLT   COJIMUNION.         277 

ment  for  the  observance  of  this,  and  all  our  Saviour's  injunc- 
tions, than  to  consider  that  it  was  his  dying  command — dying 
too  for  our  sakes — to  do  this  in  remembrance  of  him,  as  the 
most  effectual  means  to  fill  our  hearts  with  devout  affections, 
and  adorn  our  lives  with  fruits  of  righteousness.  Oh  what 
cords  of  love  do  the  careless  and  thoughtless  votaries  of  the 
world,  who  turn  away  from  this  sacrament,  break  through! 
"What  painfully  purchased  means  of  mercy  and  salvation,  do 
they  contemptuously  cast  from  them!  Alas,  for  those  im- 
mortal souls,  who  will  not  be  saved. 

2.  Secondly,  partaking  of  the  sacramental  elements  in  com- 
memoration of  the  death  of  Christ,  is  designed  to  impress 
upon  our  hearts,  that  the  atonement  thereby  made  upon  the 
cross  for  sin,  is  to  fallen  man  the  only  ground  of  hojDe,  and 
assurance  of  pardon  and  acceptance. 

The  receiving  this  sacrament,  therefore,  is  a  continual  ac- 
knowledgment, that  that  pardon  of  sin,  which  God  vouch- 
safes us  upon  the  condition  of  unfeigned  repentance,  is  the 
purchase  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  effect  of  that  gi*eat 
and  eternal  sacrifice,  once  oft'ered  as  an  exj^iation  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world.  And  sincere  penitents  can  never,  with 
more  reasonable  and  well-grounded  faith,  hope  to  have  ap- 
plied to  themselves,  the  benefit  of  the  grace  and  forgiveness 
purchased  for  all,  by  that  great  propitiation,  than  when  they 
are,  with  true  devotion,  and  with  full  purpose  of  amended 
life,  commemorating  their  Saviour's  sufterings,  in  that  solemn 
manner,  which  he  himself  has  appointed.  They  can  never 
with  more  lively  hope  express  their  full  trust  and  humble 
dependance  upon  God,  that  "he  will  also  give  them  freely  all 
other  things,"  than  when  they  are  worthily  and  devoutly 
commemorating,  according  to  our  Lord's  own  institution — 
how  God  "spared  not  even  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him 
up  for  us  all." 

One  main  design  of  this  ordinance,  then,  my  brethren  and 
hearers,  is  to  encourage  men  to  repent,  and  to  enable  them 
to  perfect  their  repentance.  It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  con- 
fined as  a  privilege  to  confirmed  believers,  as  some  teach, 
and  is  too  generally  admitted.  Tlie  blood  of  Christ,  in  the 
language  of  Scripture,  is  a  fountain  opened  for  sin  and  for 
nncleanness — that  is,  for  sin  truly  repented  of;  and  the  benefit 


278         NATURE   AND   DESIGN   OF  THE   HOLY   COMMUNION. 

thereof  is  never  more  likely  to  be  effectually  applied,  than 
when,  with  sincere  resolutions  of  renewed  obedience,  we  obey 
the  injunction  of  my  text,  by  partaking  of  these  holy  mysteries. 
What  an  awful  account,  then,  will  those  have  to  give,  who 
are  called  to  the  knowledge  of  this  grace,  and  yet,  with  a 
careless  indifference,  neglect  this  appointment  of  a  Saviour's 
dying  love! — and  what  excuse  can  be  made,  even  for  the 
sinner,  who  thus  shows  that  he  prefers  to  continue  in  sin, 
with  eternal  death  as  its  wages,  rather  than  to  repent  and  be 
saved? 

3.  A  third  design  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  is 
to  continue  down  to  all  generations  the  memory  of  "the  love 
of  God  our  Saviour,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour," 

And  as  this  is  what  is  to  be  understood  in  the  more  con- 
fined sense  of  the  word  memorial,  when  applied  to  this  in- 
stitution of  religion,  so  observation  and  experience  teach  us, 
my  brethren,  that  without  some  such  solemn  observance,  the 
memory  even  of  this  great  event  might  have  been  lost  among 
men. 

To  communicate,  therefore,  in  remembrance  of  Christ,  is 
to  profess  publicly  our  faith  in  his  death,  as  that  full  satis- 
faction to-  the  broken  law,  which  the  justice  of  God  required 
as  the  condition  of  forgiveness,  while  it  is  also  a  perpetuating 
or  keeping  up  in  the  world,  the  memory  of  this  great  event, 
as  the  ground  of  mercy  and  reconciliation  with  God  to  every 
generation  of  sinners.  It  is  on  our  part  "showing  forth  the 
Lord's  death  until  he  come." 

4.  Another  and  very  important  design  of  this  institution, 
as  a  public  ordinance  of  religion,  is  to  give  to  Christians  a 
very  impressive  and  affecting  opportunity  to  unite  with  one 
heart  and  one  voice  in  returning  thanks  to  God  for  his  un- 
speakable mercy,  in  the  gift  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  for  the 
redemption  of  mankind;  whence  the  whole  of  this  service  is 
usually  called  the  eucharist,  that  is,  the  solemn  thanksgiving. 
And  if  we  are  at  all  times  bound  to  return  thanks  to  God  for  all 
his  mercies,  for  the  mercies  of  every  day,  and  of  every  hour, 
with  how  much  greater  earnestness  ought  we  to  express  the 
same  thankful  disposition  of  soul,  when  we  are  commemo- 
rating that  mercy,  my  brethren,  which  is  not  only  the  greatest 


NATURE   AlsD  DESIGN   OF  THE   HOLY  COiEflUNION.  279 

•of  all  Others,  but  the  fountain  also  and  foundation  of  them 
all? 

As  it  is  an  ungrateful  heart  which  receives  the  blessings  of 
God's  fatherly  providence,  day  by  day,  without  one  tribute 
of  a  thankful  spirit  offered  up  to  the  Giver  of  every  good  and 
perfect  gift,  so  it  must  be  an  ice-cold,  infidel  disposition, 
which  can  contemplate  this  precious  gift  of  God's  love,  and 
hear  the  thanksgivings  of  his  people,  without  being  moved  to 
go  and  do  likewise,  and  to  add  his  voice  and  his  heart  to  the 
eucharistical  hymn,  with  which  we  conclude  our  sacramental 
service.  "We  praise  thee,  we  bless  thee,  we  worship  thee, 
we  glorify  thee,  we  give  thanks  to  thee,  for  thy  great  glory,  O 
Lord  God,  heavenly  King,  God  the  Father  Almighty."  Yet, 
alas!  though  all  are  redeemed,  such  is  the  enmity  of  the  carnal 
mind,  that  ten  tongues  are  silent,  or  lifted  up  in  blasphemy, 
for  one  that  returns  to  give  glory  to  the  God  of  our  salvation. 

5.  A  fifth  design  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is, 
the  confirming  and  renewing  of  the  covenant  with  God, 
entered  into  at  om-  baptism;  and  thus  to  keep  alive  and  fresh 
in  our  minds  the  obligations  we  have  come  under  by  being 
baptized  into  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  promises  of  God 
of  the  succor  and  help  of  his  Holy  Splrit,  sealed  to  us  in 
that  sacrament,  and  renewed  in  this. 

And  who  that  considers  what  poor,  frail,  sinful,  and  cor- 
rupt creatures  we  are — who  that  knows  how  compassed  about 
with  infirmity,  and  exposed  to  temptation  our  whole  pil- 
grimage is — but  must  admire  and  adore  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  God  our  Sa^aour,  in  making  this  provision  for 
our  comfort  and  assm'ance. 

As  there  is  no  man  that  liveth  and  sinneth  not;  as  the  grace 
given  in  baptism  decays,  by  reason  of  sin  wilfully  committed; 
and  as  without  repentance  there  is  no  return  to  God,  and  re- 
newal of  spiritual  strength,  and  no  available  repentance  with- 
out faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  therefore  is  this  wise  and 
effectual  provision  of  the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  made,  that  the  sincere  penitent  and  humble  be- 
liever, beholding  by  faith,  "the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  may  have  a  visible  and  sensible 
pledge  of  God's  promised  mercy  and  favor,  in  the  use  of  the 
means  through  which  he  hath  been  pleased  to  appoint  that 


280         NATURE   AJJD   DESIG±Y   OF   THE   HOLT   COMMUNIOK. 

we  are  to  receive  tliem.  Tlierefore  it  is  of  perpetual  obliga- 
tion and  continuance  in  the  Churcli,  for  the  nourishment  and 
sustenance  of  his  followers,  until  "he  shall  appear  the  second 
time,  without  sin  unto  salvation."  And  what  an  awful  thought 
it  is,  my  brethren,  to  reflect  how  those  will  then  meet  him 
who  have  been  baptized  into  his  name  and  death,  have  had 
the  light  of  his  blessed  gospel  shining  around  them,  the 
means  of  his  grace  freely  offered  and  pressed  upon  them,  and 
yet  have  made  light  of  it,  and  never  once  confessed  him  be- 
fore men,  or  acknowledged  any  obligation  to  him,  as  their 
Redeemer,  by  obeying  this  his  dying  command.  Oh!  what  an 
aggravation  of  our  guilt  it  is,  to  add  contempt  to  ingratitude. 

The  last  purpose  I  shall  mention  as  designed  by  the  insti- 
tution of  this  ordinance,  is  a  profession  of  our  communion  one 
with  another,  and  a  strong  obligation  to  mutual  love,  charity, 
and  good  will. 

As  the  death  of  Chkist  is  the  means  whereby  we  are  re- 
conciled to  God,  so  it  is  intended  also  to  reconcile  men  to 
each  other — that  is,  to  enforce  all  those  motives  by  which 
peace  and  union  are  promoted,  forgiveness  of  injuries  en- 
couraged, and  loving  kindness  extended.  With  gi-eat  reason, 
therefore,  it  is,  that  the  commemoration  of  his  death  for  us  all, 
should  be  accompanied,  in  our  degree,  by  that  temper  and 
mind  which  was  in  Chkist  Jesus — "Beloved,  if  God  so  loved 
us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another." 

That  creatures  of  the  same  God,  partakers  of  the  same  ruin, 
and  lieirs  of  the  same  hope,  springing  from  the  one  only 
mediator  between  God  and  man,  should  be  of  one  mind  and 
of  one  doctrine  in  the  great  affair  of  religion,  and  in  all  things 
kindly  aflectioned  one  towards  another,  is  the  most  reason- 
able of  all  expectations,  the  most  natural  of  all  duties.  That 
it  is  not  so,  is  greatly  to  be  dejjlored.  It  therefore  behooves 
us,  my  brethren,  to  be  very  careful  on  Scripture  principles, 
and  under  Scripture  directions,  that  we  be  not  of  the  number 
who  violate  this  obligation.  Nor  is  the  obligation  of  that 
difficult  nature  which  many  suppose;  for  Christan  charity  in- 
volves no  sm-render  of  Christian  'principle,  neither  does  it 
demand  any  accommodation  with  error,  either  in  the  doc- 
trines or  order  of  the  gospel.  In  its  exercise  it  is  confined 
exclusively  to  persons.     Opinions  are  not,  neither  can  be,  the 


NATURE  AND   DESIGN   OF  THE   HOLY   COMlVrUNION.         281 

objects  of  its  operation.  And  if  thus  understood,  and  acted 
upon,  it  would  fully  answer  the  great  and  gracious  purpose 
of  its  enactment,  in  maintaining  peace  and  good  will,  even 
amidst  the  dissolution  of  that  unity  among  Christians,  which 
marks  tlie  latter  day  of  the  gospel  dispensation, 

I  shall  now  conclude  with  an  enforcement  of  the  duty,  en- 
joined in  my  text,  "Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me." 

And  First,  to  whom  are  these  afiectionate  words  addressed, 
my  hearers?  Primarily  to  the  twelve  disciples,  certainly, 
Avho  had  been  with  him  from  the  beginning,  and  were  there- 
fore the  better  qualified  to  be  his  witnesses,  and  to  make 
known  his  will  and  intention  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  as  our 
LoED  himself  told  them,  "And  ye  also  shall  bear  witness,  be- 
cause ye  have  been  with  me  from  the  beginning." 

As  these  witnesses,  therefore,  taught  and  commanded,  that 
this  commemoration  of  the  death  of  Christ  was  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  standing  ordinance  in  the  Church;  as  the  primitive 
Christians  received  and  practiced  it  as  of  general  obligation; 
and  the  canon  of  Scripture  hath  recorded  it  as  an  integral 
part  of  Christianity;  these  circumstances,  independent  of  any 
reason  or  benefit  to  us  from  the  ordinance  itself,  put  all  who 
have  been  and  vet  continue  necjlio-ent  of  it,  in  the  class  of 
transgressors,  not  only  of  a  plain  law  of  the  gospel,  but  of  a 
law  enforced  by  every  motive  which  can  have  weight,  either 
with  a  grateful  or  a  selfish  nature.  Every  way,  therefore, 
they  are  without  excuse,  who  from  year  to  year  hear  the  in- 
vitations of  the  ministers  of  Christ  to  prepare  themselves  for 
this  duty,  and  yet  turn  away  from  it  with  indifierence,  as  from 
something  they  were  at  perfect  liberty  to  observe  or  refuse. 

Secondly,  as  it  is  clearly  revealed  to  us  that  there  i^^  no 
approach  to  God  for  us  sinners,  but  only  through  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  as  our  saving  relation  to  him,  our  new  or  affi- 
liated state,  in  contradiction  to  our  state  by  nature,  is  begun 
in  the  sacrament  of  baptism  and  continued  in  that  of  tlie  eu- 
charist,  by  \'irtue  of  our  union  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  and  is  no  otherwise  even  to  be  hoj^ed  for  under  the 
gospel:  Where  shall  those  appear  who  are  wilfully  strangers 
to  this  saving  ordinance  of  his  express  appointment,  when  he 
shall  arise  to  shake  terribly  the  earth,  and  to  execute  his 
threatenings  upon  the  ungodly?    Who  is  then  to  release  them 


282         NATUEE   AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   HOLY   COMMUNION. 

from  the  obligations  of  tlieir  baptismal  vow,  and  put  in  a 
plea  to  defend  them  from  the  just  demands  of  God's  violated 
law?  Who  is  to  present  an  atonement  for  them  adequate  to 
the  infinite  demerit  of  sin  in  the  sight  of  God?  Can  thej  ap- 
ply to  the  Lord  Jesus  to  plead  for  them?  Alas,  he  then  sits 
as  their  judge,  not  as  their  advocate,  and  must  say  according 
to  truth — I  never  knew  you,  you  formed  no  acquaintance 
with  me,  in  that  state  of  reprieve  and  probation  my  suffer- 
ings purchased  for  you.  Can  they  plead  for  themselves  ei- 
ther ignorance  or  penitence,  or  procrastinated  good  intentions 
cut  short  by  death?  Alas,  before  that  dread  tribunal  every 
human  mouth  shall  be  stopped  by  the  consciousness  that 
there  can  be  no  excuse  for  rejection  of  the  means  of  grace, 
no  voice  shall  be  heard  but  that  of  the  man  Chkist  Jesus, 
nor  any  other  sentence  be  passed  but  that  of,  "come  ye 
blessed,  or  depart  ye  cursed."  Oh,  my  poor  fellow  sinners, 
would  ye  but  hear  it,  "Now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the 
day  of  salvation" — now  your  crucified  Loed  can  plead  for 
you  and  with  you — now  he  offers  you  the  free  and  full  ben- 
efit of  all  his  tears,  and  groans,  and  blood,  and  beseeches  you 
by  the  mercies  of  God,  to  lay  to  heart  the  things  which  make 
for  your  peace,  before  they  are  forever  hid  from  your  eyes. 
"Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die." 

But  you  will  say,  perhaps,  that  we  are  unworthy  to  par- 
take of  so  sacred  an  ordinance.  It  is  invested  with  such  an 
awful  sanctity  that  we  consider  it  unapproachable  by  mor- 
tals, without  the  danger  of  incurring  extreme  guilt.  And  is 
it  really  so,  that  any  present  are  deterred  by  this  erroneous 
estimate  of  a  means  of  grace?  Are  any  so  misled  as  to  think 
that  a  gracious  God  would  appoint  and  command  an  ordi- 
nance of  his  religion,  either  dangerous  or  unprofitable  in  it- 
self, to  his  creatures?  Far,  very  far,  be  such  an  impious 
thought  from  every  soul  present.  No,  my  brethren  and 
hearers,  whatever  the  most  merciful  God  hath  provided  for 
us,  and  connnanded  to  be  observed,  is  both  animating  and 
profitable,  when  duly  considered.  We  may  be  unworthy, 
and  in  one  sense  the  very  best  of  us  is  unworthy,  of  the  least 
of  all  God's  mercies.  But  if  we  are  unworthy  in  the  more 
common  use  of  the  word,  it  is  our  own  fault;  we  can  have 
taken  no  pains  to  prepare  ourselves — we  must  be  in  the  aw- 


NATURE   AND   DESIGN   OF  THE   HOLY   COirMUNION.         283 

ful  condition  of  preferring  sin  to  God,  tlie  world  to  heaven, 
or  at  the  best,  our  o'wn  righteousness  to  the  righteousness  of 
God,  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Cheist. 

And  what  ground  have  those  who  thus  make  faith  of  none 
effect,  by  resting  on  their  own  righteousness,  to  suppose  that 
it  will  stand  them  in  any  stead  in  the  great  and  dreadful  day 
of  the  IpED?  Has  heaven  spoken  of  any  such  dependence? 
Does  the  revelation  God  has  made  to  us  through  his  Son  give 
countenance  to  such  a  presumptuous  hope?  If  it  does  not, 
where  do  you  find  it,  unless  in  the  whispers  of  the  father  of 
lies  to  the  desperately  wicked  heart  of  the  natural  man?  Oh 
trust  not  to  it,  my  hearers,  for  it  will  deceive  you — trust  ra- 
ther to  him  who  hath  bought  you  with  his  own  blood — who 
invites  you  to  peace  here  and  glory  hereafter,  through  faith 
in  his  only  saving  name,  and  who  tells  you,  in  words  which 
cannot  fail,  "I^o  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me — 
Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  his 
blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you."  My  dear  hearers,  if  under 
the  gospel  men  can  be  saved  without  the  sacraments  of  the 
Church  of  Chkist,  wherefore  did  God  appoint  them?  If  the 
spiritual  grace  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  a  fallen  sin- 
ner is  to  be  had,  independently  of  the  means  to  which  it  is 
expressly  annexed  by  divine  institution,  whereto  serveth  the 
Christian  dispensation,  or  what  is  the  use  of  revealed  religion? 
Cast  away  from  you,  therefore,  tliis  fruit  of  unbelief  and 
death,  and  build  upon  that  tried  foundation  stone,  which 
neither  the  storms  of  time,  nor  the  tempest  of  a  dissolving 
world,  shall  be  able  to  shake,  even  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified  for  us. 

To  whom,  &c.  &c. 


SEEMON  IV. 

THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PAP.TAKE  OF  THE  LOKD's  SFPPEK. 


1  Corinthians,  xi.  26. 

"For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the 
Lord's  death  till  he  come." 

To  apprehend  aright  the  jDurj^ose  and  design -of  a  religious 
ordinance,  is  the  best  means  to  feel,  as  we  ought  to  feel,  the 
obligation  we  are  under  to  observe  it,  and  to  enable  us,  un- 
derstand ingly,  and  so  far  acceptably,  to  perform  it.  This  is 
rendered  peculiarly  necessary,  my  brethren,  from  another 
consideration,  which  is  this,  that  the  external  appointments 
of  Christianity  are  not  only  duties,  because  of  institution  and 
command,  but  means  of  grace;  that  is,  channels  of  personal 
t3enefit  and  advantage^  in  the  communication  of  spiritual 
blessings,  and  helps  to  faith  also;  that  is,  divinely  authorized, 
outward  and  visible  representations  and  assurances,  of  things 
at  present  invisible. 

This  distinctive  character  is  derived  tO  them  aitogetber 
irom  the  appointment  of  the  institutor,  and  this  so  strictly, 
tjiat  there  can  be  no  rational  grounds  of  confidence  in  their 
efficacy,  when  severed  from  the  authority  of  their  original 
institution  Imagination,  stretched  to  enthusiasm,  may  in- 
deed supply  this  defect,  but  it  (cannot  cure  it;  and  the  persua- 
sion of  an  erroneous  judgment  may  altogether  disregard  it; 
but  no  persuasion  of  mind  can  make  that  to  be,  which  is  not, 
or  alter  the  fixed  order  of  revealed  truth,  or  give  to  imita- 
tions of  religious  mysteries,  however  exact  the  copy.  l)ie 
sanctified  character  of  the  means  of  grace 

As  God  alone  can  appoint  to  what  external  religious  ob- 
servances his  grace  shall  be  annexed,  and  by  what  marks 
they  are  to  be  verified  to  us,  as  di/ine;  it  can  never  be  a  mat- 
ter of  indifierence  to  a  serious  mind,  upon  what  its  assurance 
rests,  that  religious  ordinances  are  what  they  profess  to  be . 
Could  this  view  cf  the  subject  be  reasonably  disputed,  it  may 


286     THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PAETAKE  OF  THE  LORd's   SUPPEE. 

be  further  confirmed  by  tliis;  that  as  in  the  celebration  of  re- 
ligious ordinances,  particuhxrly  of  the  sacraments,  there  is  an 
administrator,  as  well  as  recipient  of  what  he  administers, 
there  must  be  an  authority,  or  right  to  act  in  this  case,  in  the 
administrator,  which  is  not  in  the  recipients.  And  this  au- 
thority, or  right  to  act,  in  things  divine,  must  surely  partake 
of  the  nature  of  the  things  acted,  and  be  itself  divine. 

In  the  very  serious  exercises  of  mind  which  should  pre- 
cede religious  observances,  and  particularly  the  higher  solem- 
nities of  religion,  it  is  very  important,  especially  to  young 
communicants — and,  in  the  present  circumstances  of  the  gos- 
pel, may  I  not  venture  to  say,  to  old  communicants  too — that 
this  should  form  such  a  part  of  that  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject, as  shall  enable  them  to  act  with  a  rational  confidence, 
not  only  that  they  are  duly  qualified  with  proper  dispositions 
of  heart,  but  with  such  an  understanding  of  the  nature  and 
design  of  the  ordinance,  and  with  such  a  full  persuasion  of 
the  divine  character  of  its  administration,  as  is  worthy  of  the 
name  of  faith.  For  faith,  in  the  just  and  scriptural  meaning 
of  that  word,  is  not  any,  or  every  persuasion  of  the  mind, 
however  full  and  strong,  which  a  person  may  entertain  on 
the  subject  of  religion;  for  then  would  the  greatest  errors 
be  the  highest  points  ol  faith.  But  true  faith  is  the  recep- 
tion of  divine  truth,  U2)on  divine  testimony,  adherence  to 
divine  direction  upon  divine  command,  and  reliance  upon 
divine  promises,  upon  divine  authority  to  administer  the  seals 
of  the  covenant  of  grace  in  the  sacraments  of  the  Church. 
This  being  once  ascertained  upon  just  and  scriptural  grounds, 
the  mind  is  settled,  and  the  ordinances  of  religion  are  met 
and  engaged  in,  with  that  union  of  the  understanding  and 
the  afi'ections,  which  render  them  at  once  a  reasonable  and  a 
j^rofitable  service,  performed  towards  God. 

Apjjlying  these  observations  to  the  solemn  purpose  we 
Lave  before  us-  this  day,  my  brethren,  will  at  once,  I  trust, 
confirm  their  soundness  and  practical  utility,  and  impress 
npon  all  our  hearts,  that  deep  personal  interest,  which  every 
individual  favored  with  the  gospel  actually  has,  and  should 
feel,  in  the  event  commemorated. 

"For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye 
do  show  the  Loed's  death  till  he  come." 


THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PARTAKE  OF  THE  LOEd's   SUPPEE.     287 

That  tliese  words  of  the  apostle  present  to  us  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  the  object  of  our  perpetual  commemoration;  that 
they  require  this  commemoration  to  be  made  publicly  through 
the  medium  of  material  symbols  or  emblems;  and  that  each 
one  of  us  has  the  highest  personal  interest  in  the  eifect  pro- 
duced by  this  death,  upon  the  condition  of  the  world;  I  con- 
sider such  plain  and  obvious  inferences,  as  to  stand  in  no 
need  of  any  proof:  but  at  the  same  time,  so  little  heeded  by 
the  great  majority  for  whose  benefit  they  are  revealed,  and 
so  superficially  considered  by  many  who  make  the  commemo- 
ration, as  to  demand  both  exposition  and  enforcement.  I 
shall  therefore  make  them  the  subjects  of  our  consideration 
and  improvement  on  the  present  occasion. 

FiEST,  then,  the  death  of  Cheist  is  here  presented  to  us  as 
the  object  of  our  perpetual  commemoration. 

This  is  confirmed  to  us  by  these  words  of  the  text — "Ye  do 
show  the  Loed's  death  till  he  come" — which  plainly  extend 
its  observance  to  the  close  of  the  Christian  dispensation;  when 
the  crucified  Jesus  will  come  in  the  full  glory  of  the  Godhead 
to  inquire  into  the  fruits  of  his  suflferings  for  sinners,  and  to 
reward  or  punish  them  everlastingly,  according  to  the  efiects 
produced  upon  their  hearts  and  lives,  by  the  truth  of  his  doc- 
trine, the  laws  of  his  religion,  and  the  grace  of  his  Holt 
Spirit.  And  this  is  enforced  by  whatever  is  elsewhere  set 
forth  in  the  Scriptures,  of  the  cause  and  the  purpose  of  his 
death,  and  of  the  end  and  design  of  its  being  set  apart,  as  a 
solemn  ordinance  of  religion. 

To  a  reasonable  and  profitable  observance  of  this  sacred 
mystery,  then,  it  must  be  evident,  my  brethren  and  hearers, 
it  is  necessary  that  we  be  so  far  informed  and  instructed  in 
the  fundamental  truths  of  revealed  religion,  as  to  apprehend, 
in  some  good  degree,  the  connexion  of  Cheist's  death  with  our 
personal  condition,  as  respects  Almighty  God;  because,  with- 
out this  there  can  be  no  ground  at  all,  either  for  requiring  or 
rendering  the  commanded  observance.  And  equally  evident 
it  must  be,  that  to  this  information  and  instruction  in  re- 
ligious truth  must  be  added  faith,  or  that  full  and  entire  per- 
suasion of  the  mind,  which  applies  the  truth  received  per- 
sonally to  ourselves,  and  so  applies  it,  as  to  overbear  and 
cast  down  all  objection  and  opposition,  whether  suggested  by 


288     THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PARTAKE  OF  THE  LORD's   SUPPER. 

our  own  pride  aucl  vanity,  countenanced  by  the  course  of 
this  present  evil  world,  or  supported  by  interests  and  regards 
of  tlie  highest  temporal  concernment.  Tiie  knowledge  that 
man  is  a  fallen,  spiritually  dead,  creature  by  nature,  may  be 
obtained  from  the  Scriptures,  and  credit  may  be  given  to  it, 
as  to  a  general  and  admitted  truth.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  man's  recovery  from  this  fallen  condition,  through  the  satis- 
faction made  to  the  Divine  Justice  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
cross.  But  to  make  these  truths  profitable  to  our  souls,  and 
influential  to  the  commanded  commemoration  of  them,  it  is 
indispensable  that  a  higher  j^rinciple  than  knowledge  and 
assent,  even  that  principle  which  quickens  knowledge,  and 
gives  life  to  testimony,  shall.be  wrought  in  the  heart  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Now  faith,  we  are  told  from  the  highest  au- 
thority, is  at  once  a  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  and  an  attainment  of 
our  own  diligence,  and  earnest  endeavors,  in  the  use  of  the 
appointed  means.  For,  "faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hear- 
ing by  the  word  of  God."  And  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  we  are 
also  told,  is  the  fruit  of  prayer  and  supplication  to  God.  "Ask 
and  ye  shall  receive — seek  and  ye  shall  find — knock  and  it 
shall  be  opened  unto  you."  Hence  the  want  of  faith  is  never 
considered  and  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  pitiable,  and, 
therefore,  pardonable  infirmity,  but  as  a  wilful,  and,  there- 
fore, criminal  denial  or  neglect  of  revealed  truth.  Because 
God's  public  message  to  mankind  is  warrant  sufficient  for 
ever}^  man  to  whom  it  comes,  to  verify  his  actual  condition 
by,  and  so  to  appropriate  the  promises  and  helps  therein  set 
forth  for  his  encouragement,  as  to  act  upon  them,  and  there- 
by reap  the  full  benefit  of  their  personal  application. 

But  it  is  an  inseparable  quality  of  faith,  that  a  course  cor- 
responding with  what  is  professed  to  be  believed,  should 
mark  the  life;  otherwise  it  is  mere  assent  to  abstract  truth, 
of  no  moral  value  whatever.  Hence,  the  man  who  admits 
the  two  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity,  in  the  fall  of 
man  by  sin,  and  his  recovery  by  the  death  of  Christ,  and  yet 
manifests  no  active  sense,  either  of  the  danger  of  his  fallen 
condition,  or  of  love  of  God,  in  providing  for  his  redemption 
from  it,  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  must  stand  con- 
demned by  his  own  heart,  as  an  unbeliever.  For  so  tremen- 
dous are  the  consequences  of  separation  from  God,  rendered 


THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PAKTAKE  OF  THE  LORd's   SUPPEK.     289 

eternal  by  neglect  of  the  gospel,  and  so  infinite  the  value 
of  restoration  to  his  favor,  rendered  everlasting  by  faith  in 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  the  doctrines  which  involve  these 
awful  sanctions,  if  really  believed,  will  be  acted  upon,  and  if 
truly  felt  in  their  personal  application,  will  draw  out  the  life 
in  a  grateful,  thankful,  commemoration  of  that  surpassing 
mystery,  the  death  of  Christ — through  which,  the  door  of 
mercy  is  opened  to  sinful  mortals.  "The  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us,"  says  St.  Paul;  and  the  true  believer  will  in  like 
manner  "show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come,"  not  only  be- 
cause it  is  a  command — "Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me," 
but  because  his  heart  feels  the  benefit  conferred,  and  longs 
to  ofler  this  homage  to  its  benefactor. 

Secondly,  This  commemoration  is  required  to  be  made  pub- 
licly, tlirougli  the  medium  of  material  symbols  or  emblems. 
"As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do 
sliow  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come." 

The  elements  of  bread  and  wine  were  chosen  and  appointed 
by  our  Lord  himself,  as  the  symbol  of  his  body  broken  and 
blood  slied  upon  the  cross  for  our  redemption.  They  are, 
therefure,  in  such  wise,  integral  parts  of  this  religious  ordi- 
nance, that  without  them  there  cannot  be  that  special  com- 
memoration of  his  death  which  he  commanded  his  followers 
to  observe.  Bread  and  wine,  however,  being  in  the  number 
uf  those  good  things  which  God  has  graciously  bestowed  for 
our  daily  nourishment,  their  sacramental  quality  cannot  be 
referred  to  their  nature,  but  must  be  sought  for  in  their  solemn 
consecration,  or  setting  apart  to  this  special  purpose. 

That  the  elements  used  by  our  Lord  were  a  part  of  that 
provision  of  which  he  had  just  partaken  with  his  disciples  in 
the  paschal  Supper,  is  very  evident  from  the  account  given 
by  all  the  evangelists.  It  was,  therefore,  by  his  particular 
designation  of  them  as  representations  of  his  passion,  and  by 
the  solemn  offering  of  them  to  Almighty  God,  as  figures  of 
the  sacrifice  of  himself  upon  the  cross,  that  they  were  made 
to  difl"er  from  what  had  previously  been  partaken  of.  This 
is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  said  our 
blessed  Lord,  after  he  had  given  thanks,  or  solemnly  conse- 
crated the  bread  and  wine,  which  he  took  from  the  table. 
This  bread  which  I  break  and  distribute  among  you,  repre- 
[Vol.  1,— *if.] 


290     THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PAETAKE  OF  THE  LOED's    SUPPER, 

sents  my  body,  about  to  be  broken  upon  the  cross  for  the  sins 
of  mankind. — "Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me."  In  like 
manner  this  cup,  or  the  wine  in  this  cup,  represents  my 
blood,  about  to  be  shed  upon  the  cross  for  you  and  for  many, 
for  the  remission  of  sins. — "Du  this  as  oft  as  you  shall  drink 
it  in  remembrance  of  me."  To  their  consecration,  therefore, 
must  the  sacramental  character  of  these  elements  be  referred. 
And  though  no  change  takes  place  in  their  nature,  though 
they  continue  as  before,  bread  and  wine,  yet  a  change  is 
made'  in  their  use  or  purpose  to  us,  which  ought  to  be  under- 
stood and  felt  by  all  who  partake  of  them.  Otherwise  the 
same  profanation  takes  place  which  St.  Paul  is  reproving  in 
the  Corinthian  Churcli — "Tlicy  do  not  discern  the  Lokd's 
body."  "We  eat,  it  is  true,  my  brethren,  bread,  actual  bread, 
unchanged  in  its  nature,  and  we  drink  wine  equrJly  un- 
changed in  its  nature,  as  is  verified  to  our  senses,  and  with- 
out surrendering  our  senses  we  cannot  think  otherwise.  But 
by  the  institution  of  heaven, — and  who  shall  say  unto  God, 
What  doest  thou? — we  eat  and  drink  bread  and  wine,  to 
which  is  annexed  by  its  consecration,  the  mysterious  quality' 
of  conveying  to  worthy  partakers,  the  full  benefit  of  the  actual 
communication  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  And  as 
this  benefit  consists  in  the  forgiveness  of  repented  and  for- 
saken sin,  and  the  renewal  of  divine  grace,  we  learn  of  what 
great  importance  it  is,  in  coming  forward  to  this  ordinance, 
that  Christians  should  possess,  not  only  suitable  dispositions 
of  heart,  but  such  just  expectations  also,  as  to  free  them  from 
the  weakness  of  superstitious  ignorance,  or  the  rashness  of  a 
presumptuous  confidence. 

As  the  substitution,  then,  of  other  elements  would  change, 
so  as  to  divest  this  ordinance  of  its  proper  character,  the 
ground  is  still  stronger  for  affirming  that  the  substitution  of  • 
any  other  authority  than  that  of  Christ,  in  their  consecration 
and  administration,  must  render  null  and  void  v/hatever 
belongs  to  the  religious  and  spiritual  nature  of  a  sacrament. 
It  was  in  his  priestly  character  that  our  Lord  consecrated 
the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  and  impressed  upon  them^ 
the  sanctified  quality  of  representing  his  body  and  blood 
given  for  us.  And  it  is  by  virtue  of  the  priestly  character 
derived  from  him,  through  his  apostles,  that  the  same  sancti- 


THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PARTAKE  OF  THE  LORd's    SUPPEE.     291 

fied  qualit}^  is  still  impressed,  and  the  same  benefits  derived, 
in  all  ages  under  the  gospel  dispensation.  Hence  we  learn, 
my  brethren,  how  very  important  it  is,  and  how  conducive 
to  their  growth  in  grace,  and  to  their  individual  comfort, 
that  Christians  should  well  consider  all  that  relates  to  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments  of  the  gospel — that  they 
should  diligently  search  out  and  ascertain,  not  only  their  own 
qualifications  for  the  participation  of  them,  but  the  qualifi- 
cations of  those  also  who  profess  to  administer  them.  For 
unless  we  assume,  that  the  promises  of  God  are  so  annexed 
to  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  his  grace  in  the  sacra- 
ments, that  they  pass  with  them,  whether  administered  with 
or  without  his  authority,  we  must  admit,  that  to  any  such 
reliance  upon  their  efficacy  as  is  worthy  of  the  name  of  faith, 
there  must  be  divine  warrant.  But  to  assume  such  a  prin- 
ciple, is  contrary  to  the  whole  tenor  and  example  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  to  the  very  nature  and  design  of  positive 
institutions  in  religion.  These  are  intended,  not  only  as 
means  of  grace,  but  as  helps  to  faith — as  visible  assurances 
of  things  divine  and  invisible.  And  since  our  obligation  to 
observe  them  is  derived  solely  from  the  appointment  uf  God, 
their  efiicacy  to  us  is  in  like  manner  dependent  on  his  au- 
thority to  administer  them,  Without  this,  they  are  not  in 
/act  sacraments,  but  at  the  best,  imitations  only,  of  holy  mys- 
teries, from  wliicli  a  deluded  mind  alone  can  draw  either 
comfort  or  assurance. 

This  may  be  exemplified  in  various  wa^'s:  for  instance,  if 
any  number  of  private  Christians  were  to  meet  together  for 
a  religious  purpose,  and  it  M'ere  proposed  that  they  should 
commemorate  the  death  of  Christ,  by  partaking  together  of 
bread  and  wine,  and  should  do  so,  would  this  constitute  a 
sacrament,  in  the  scriptural  meaning  of  that  word?  Every 
well  informed  Christian  will  say  no.  But  wherefore  not? 
The  answer  will  readily  be  given,  because  theie  is  no  author- 
ized administrator — and  the  answer  is  just.  But  suppose 
some  one  of  the  number  should  undertake,  or  be  requested, 
to  consecrate  and  administer  the  bread  and  wine  to  the  rest: 
would  this  at  all  change  the  character  of  the  act,  and  consti- 
tute that  a  sacrament,  which  before  was  not  a  sacrament?  If 
t.he  answer  shall  be  yes^  from  any,  as  I  dare  say  it  would  be 


292     THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PARTAKE  OF  THE  LOKd's   SUPPEK. 

from  some,  I  then  desire  to  know,  why  every  private  Chris- 
tian may  n(.»t  just  as  well  consecrate  and  administer  to  him 
and  lierself,  and  the  communion  of  saints  be  expunged  from 
the  Apostles'  creed.  For  in  the  case  sn])posed,  the  adminis- 
trator must  either  assume  tiie  authurity,  or  derive  it.  But 
to  assume  divine  authority  is  sacrilege;  and  the  acts  per- 
formed under  it,  are  not  only  nullities,  but  profanations, 
which  no  piety  of  intention  can  cure,  because  the  ignorance 
which  alone  can  excuse  such  a  proceeding,  is  itself  inexcusa- 
ble. If  the  authority  is  considered  good,  because  derived 
from  others,  it  is  still  insufficient,  because  those  from  whom 
it  professes  to  be  derived,  have  it  not  themselves,  and  tliere- 
fore  cannot  confer  it  upon  another.  If  the  answer  shall  be 
no,  as  from  every  well  instructed  Christian  it  must  and  will 
be,  it  can  no  otherwise  be  sustained  as  the  correct  one,  tiian 
from  defect  of  authority  in  the  administrator. 

But  to  bring  the  whole  of  this  vital  subject  more  directly 
under  your  serious  consideration,  my  brethren,  and  to  show 
the  fallacy,  and  the  danger  too,  of  the  latitudinarian  notions 
so  current,  and  so  much  favored  in  this  latter  day,  suppose 
we  were  to  substitute  some  other  article  of  our  bodily  nour- 
ishment, pulse  and  water,  for  instance,  instead  of  bread  and 
wine,  as  the  outward  and  visible  signs,  in  the  administration 
of  this  sacrament,  would  the  most  autiiorized  consecration  of 
such  elements  impress  upon  them  the  sacred  character  of  our 
Lord's  body  and  blood,  or  could  any  Christian  be  prevailed 
upon  to  partake  of  them  in  commemoration  of  Christ's  death, 
or  be  induced  by  any  reasonings  to  expect  the  benefits  of  his 
passion  to  be  thereby  transferred  and  made  over  to  him? 
Assuredly  no  such  delusion  could  faisten  U])on  any  of  your 
minds,  my  brethren.  Upon  what  ground  of  scripture  or  rea- 
Bon  then  is  it  founded,  that  bread  and  wine,  consecrated  and 
administered  without  divine  authority,  are  nevertheless  ef- 
fectual to  the  high  and  holy  purposes  of  the  sacramental 
commemoration  of  that  death,  which  is  our  life?  Surely,  if 
a  change  in  the  elements  would  vitiate  either  of  the  saci'a- 
ments,  much  more  must  defect  of  divine  authority  to  conse- 
crate and  administer  those  which  are  divinely  instituted,  ren- 
der all  such  administrations  void  and  of  none  effect. 

And  these  observations  are  addressed  to  you,  my  breth- 


TUE  OBLIGATION  TO  PARTAKE  OF  TUE  LORD's    SUPPER.      293 

ren,  at  this  particular  time,  in  tlie  hope,  that  the  occasion  it- 
self will  furm  a  practical  enforcement  of  the  points  presented 
to  3'our  consideration;  and  in  connexion  with  the  real  im- 
portance of  steadl'astness  in  yonr  religious  views  and  opin- 
ions, and  of  union,  both  in  sentiment  and  practice,  lead  to 
such  an  unprejudiced  examination  of  the  subject  as  shall 
bi'ing  the  members  of  the  Church  to  be  of  one  mind  and  of 
one  heart,  in  all  her  services.  Willi  this  view  they  are  ad- 
dressed to  your  understandings,  and  not  to  your  feelings,  that 
when  weighed  and  tried  bj'  the  only  unerring  standard,  the 
word  of  God,  vour  hearts  niav  be  established  and  knit  too:e- 
ther,  in  the  ojie  faith  of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  one  hope  of 
your  high  calling,  certified  by  the  sacraments  of  the  gospel 
duly  and  rightly  administered. 

Thirdly — The  words  of  my  text  present  to  our  considera- 
ation,  the  personal  iriterest  we  all  have  in  the  effects  produced 
by  the  death  of  Christ,  on  the  condition  of  the  v.'orkl. 

Of  the  im])ortance  of  the  gift  of  Jesus  Christ  to  mankind 
in  genera],  we  are  all,  without  exception,  in  some  good  de- 
gree aware.  But  M'ith  the  great  majoritj'  of  men  under  the 
light  of  tlie  gospel,  and  v\-it!i  many  of  you,  my  hearers,  this 
is  all;  you  carry  it  no  fui-thei';  you  do  not  receive  it  as  a  di- 
vine and  infallible  connnunication  from  heaven,  for  your  in- 
dividual benefit.  You  do  not  dwell  upon  it  in  your  thoughts, 
an<l  apply  it  to  your  ]K>rsonal  condition.  You  do  not  consider 
it  in  the  cause  which  rendered  it  necessary,  and  in  the  effects 
which  flow  from  it.  Above  all,  the  death  of  Christ  is  not 
dwelt  upon,  as  in  itself  the  most  important  and  influential 
part  of  his  undertaking  for  us — indeed  that  part  without 
which  all  the  rest  would  have  been  of  no  avail  to  make  our 
peace  with  God.  Hence  it  is,  that  sin  is  esteemed  s<i  slight 
and  trivial  a  thing,  that  the  wrath  of  God,  revealed  from 
heaven  against  it,  is  sported  with,  and  the  only  means  of 
escape  neglected. 

But,  my  dear  hearers,  what  can  give  to  sinners  so  con- 
vincing a  proof  of  the  deadly  nature  of  sin  as  the  death  of 
Christ?  What  can  manifest  so  conclusively,  God's  infinite 
hatred  of  it,  as  the  humiliation  and  sufferinofs  of  his  onlv  be- 
gotten  Sox,  endured  for  us?  What  can  enable  man  to  realize 
the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  equal  to  the  consideration  of  that 


294     THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PARTAKE  OF  THE  LORd's   SUPPER. 

agony,  whose  overwlielming  pressure  drew  from  God  and 
man,  united  in  one  person,  tlie  sweat  of  blood,  abandoned 
him  to  tlie  malice  of  men  and  devils,  and  to  the  cruel  and 
lingering  torments  of  the  cross?  Was  it  fur  a  slight  cause, 
think  ye,  that  the  love  of  God,  and  the  power  of  God,  and 
the  wisdom  of  God,  combined  in  one  high  counsel  for  the 
salvation  of  sinners,  saw  this,  the  fittest  method  to  fulfil  his 
gracious  purpose  towards  mankind?  Alas!  how  we  trifle 
with  eternal  death,  within  reach  of  the  tree  of  life.  IIow  wo 
labor  to  stifle  the  convictions  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  the  bet- 
ter reason  of  our  own  minds,  and  the  better  feelings  of  our 
fallen  nature!  How  do  we  assent,  and  then  retract,  and 
yield,  and  then  put  off,  and  melt  and  give  way,  and  then 
harden  and  lock  up  the  heart;  but,  like  a  door  turning  upon 
its  hinges,  still  remain  in  the  same  place!  Yea,  how  many, 
when  driven  from  all  their  subterfuges  by  the  voice  of  divine 
truth,  rather  than  surrender  to  the  call  of  Christ,  take  shel- 
ter in  unbelief,  and  sit  down  contented  without  God  in  the 
world. 

Look  around  you,  my  friends,  and  inquire,  on  which  side 
of  this  awful  controversy  betwixt  God  and  the  world  do  you 
stand?  On  which  side  stand  the  men  of  name  and  note 
amongst  us — those  to  whom  God  hath  given  wisdom  and 
understanding,  and  riches,  and  honor,  and  influence,  among 
their  fellows — men  who  ought  to  know,  because  they  have 
the  means  and  the  leisure,  and  who  do  know,  because  they 
have  heard  God's  message  of  warning  and  mercy  to  his  crea- 
tures? What  sense  do  they  in  general  manifest  of  the  death 
of  Chjiist?  Are  they  in  the  number  of  those  who  thankfully 
show  it  forth  as  their  one  only  hope  for  hereafter?  Alas,  for 
the  truth — the  cruel  heart-rending  truth — "that  not  many 
wise,  not  many  noble,  not  many  mighty  are  called,  because 
they  close  their  ears,  and  harden  their  hearts,  lest  at  any 
time  they  should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them,"  says 
the  Saviour. 

And  for  what  do  they  thus  sport  with  destruction,  and 
choose  death,  in  the  error  of  their  life?  For  the  love  of  that 
which  brought  the  Son  of  God,  like  a  criminal,  to  the  cross — 
for  a  little  more  of  that  world,  which  with  themselves  is 
hasting  to  vanish  away — for  an  increase  of  that  superfluity 


THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PAETAKE  OF  THE  LORd's   SUPPEE.     295 

which  already  weighs  them  down  with  anxious  days  and 
wakeful  niu-hts,  shuttino-  out  God  from  their  thonirhts,  or  at 
best  postponing  the  chief  good  to  some  distant  and  uncertain 
period — for  the  follies  and  vanities  of  the  day — for  the  revel- 
lings  and  banquetings,  upon  which  God's  portion  for  the 
widow  and  fatherless,  the  poor  and  the  needy,  the  suffering 
and  the  distressed,  the  ignorant  and  the  vicious,  is  squander- 
ed. Oh!  did  tliey  but  think — could  they  but  realize,  the 
account  that  is  to  be  given  in  for  example,  how  many  lost 
souls  will  be  charged  to  their  contempt  and  neglect  of  the 
great  sacrifice  for  sin  made  upon  the  cross,  to  their  disregard 
of  the  heart-cheering  hope  given  to  a  lost  world,  by  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ — but  alas!  it  is  hid  from  them.  Their  foolish 
heart  is  darkened — the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  their 
minds — they  will  not  come  to  the  light — and  even  at  this 
moment,  when  conscience  is  awakened,  and  the  understand- 
ing is  convinced,  and  fear  is  alarmed,  and  pride  perhaps 
offended,  some  surrender  of  the  world  is  anticipated,  which 
gives  them  all  to  the  winds. 

But  for  your  souls'  sake,  for  Christ's  sake,  bethink  you.  If 
this  provision  of  mercy  and  grace  for  sinners  is  rejected,  is 
there  anoth'er  ground  of  hope  for  hereafter?  Was  sin  thus 
visited  upon  him  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  continue 
in  sin?  Is  the  pardon  of  the  penitent  no  otherwise  possible 
than  through  the  death  of  Christ,  believed  in  and  relied  upon 
for  the  expiation  of  its  guilt?  Must  the  effect  of  that  death 
be  manifested  in  us  by  a  holy  and  religious  life,  as  the  only 
evidence  which  God  will  accept,  that  we  believe  the  testi- 
mony he  hath  given  to  his  Son,  as  the  only  name  under  heaven 
whereby  we  must  be  saved?  Owe  we  any  thing  to  the  love 
of  Christ  dying  for  us?  is  there  any  gratitude  due  for  so  high 
a  favor  freely  bestowed  upon  us?  is  there  any  force  in  the 
dying  i-equest  of  our  best  friend?  "What  say  our  lallen  cor- 
rupt hearts,  under  the  searching  application  of  such  inquiries 
as  these?  My  dear  hearers,  how  then  shall  those  look  their 
Saviour  in  the  face,  in  the  great  day  of  eternity,  who  have 
here,  in  the  time  of  mercy,  made  light  of  these  high  claims 
upon  them,  who  have  never  manifested  any  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  his  death  for  them  individually,  who  are  unknown 
as  his  disciples,  and  have  never  sliowed  forth  before  the 


296     THE  OBLIGATION  TO  I'ARTAKK  OF  THE  LOED's   SUPPEE. 

world,  their  faith  in  liis  atoning  blood  by  partaking  of  tlie 
elements  which  represent  and  convey  the  benefits  of  his  death 
to  believers?  O  when  tliey  look  on  him  whom  they  have 
pierced  by  their  sins,  and  by  their  sinful  neglect  of  the  gos- 
pel, what  will  be  the  emotions  of  their  despairing  souls — 
whither  shall  they  flee  from  the  wrath  of  the  lamb?  When 
they  hear  the  awful,  and,  as  to  them,  literally  true  words, 
"I  never  knew  you" — I  cannot  save  you — the  time  is  past — 
what  compensation  will  the  world  then  prove  in  exchange 
for  their  souls?  Alas,  it  is  consuming  under  their  feet,  and 
all  its  glory  reduced  to  a  cinder. 

But,  thanks  be  to  God,  there  is  yet  given  to  us  by  his 
merc}'^,  a  little  precious  though  uncertain  hour,  in  which, 
thi'ough  the  intercession  of  this  same  Jp:sus,  repentance  may 
undo  past  neglect,  and  a  new  life  give  proof  of  faith  un- 
feigned— in  which  preparation  may  be  made  for  a  happy 
eternity,  and  God  be  glorified  by  your  professed  subjection 
to  the  gospel.  And  shall  it  pass  unheeded,  unimproved,  my 
friends,  all  given  to  the  world  and  no  part  reserved  for  God? 
God  forbid!  "awake  then,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from 
the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light."  Come  to  Ilira 
who  hath  died  for  thee,  and  will  by  no  means  cast  thee  out. 
And  let  it  dwell  upon  your  hearts,  my  brethren  and  hearers, 
that  "now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 

May  God  bless  his  truth  to  all  present;  and  to  his  holy 
name,  in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  be  glory  and  praise, 
now  and  forever. 


SERMON  V. 


COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS. 


1  Corinthians,  x.  17. 

••For  we  being  many,  are  one  bread  and  one  body;  for  we  are  all  par- 
takers of  that  one  bread." 

The  Communion  of  Saints  is  an  article  of  the  faitli  we  pro- 
fess, ray  brethren,  a;id  one  of  those  primary  and  fundamental 
doctrines  which  are  embodied  in  that  form  of  sound  words 
called  the  Apostles'  Creed.  It  is  one  which  we  declare  our 
belief  of  in  the  daily  service  of  the  Church,  and  respecting 
which  we  ought  not  to  be  ignorant.  Yet  it  is  to  be  feared, 
that  the  acknowledgment  of  the  doctrine  is  too  often  made 
without  any  very  clear  or  precise  import  of  its  meaning,  or 
right  sense  of  the  obligations  growing  out  of  it.  In  its  ap- 
plication, nevertheless,  equally  with  all  the  other  doctrines 
of  our  religion,  it  is  intended  for  the  comfort  and  edification 
of  the  body  of  Christ,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  and 
for  the  advancement  of  the  gospel  in  the  world,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  that  mutual  love  among  Christians  which  is  involved 
in  this  communion  or  fellowship. 

To  consider  and  apply  this  doctrine,  therefore,  will  be  a 
suitable  improvement,  I  trust,  of  the  present  occasion,  when 
we  are  met  together  to  manifest  our  fellowship  in  the  one 
faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel,  and  mutually  to  refresh  each 
other,  and  be  refreshed,  in  the  participation  of  that  one  bread, 
in  and  by  which  we  are  constituted  one  body,  thougii  many 
members.  For  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  my  bretlireii,  is  a 
social  principle,  looking  for  and  affording  mutual  assistance, 
consolation,  and  joy,  to  those  wiio  embrace  it,  in  our  present 
pilgrimage,  and  expecting  the  full  measure  of  its  enjoyment 
and  reward,  in  that  perfect  communion  and  fellowship  of  the 
just,  which  shall  be  before  the  throne  of  Goo  and  the  Lamb, 
for  ever; — where  trial  shall  be  ended,  where  no  imperfection 
shall  be  found,  where  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  from  our  eyes, 


298  COMMUNION   OF  SAINTS. 

and  where  increase  of  bliss  shall  occupy  the  sublimed  and 
exalted  faculties  of  glorified  spirits. 

For  your  edification  herein,  therefore,  my  brethren,  I  shall, 
in  the 

FiftsT  place,  endeavor  to  explain  the  meaning  of  that  com- 
munion or  fellowship,  which  is  referred  to  in  the  text,  in  the 
words,  "we  are  one  bread  and  one  body." 

Secondly,  I  shall  consider  the  origin  and  nature  of  the 
principle,  in  which  that  commuion  or  fellowship  consists. 

Thikdly,  I  will  show  you  the  nature  and  extent  of  those 
duties  which  grow  out  of  the  participation  of  this  one,  estab- 
lished, symbol  gf  union  among  the  disciples  of  Christ  through- 
out the  world;  and,  then. 

Conclude,  with  an  improvement  of  the  subject. 

"For  we,  being  many,  are  one  bread  and  one  body;  for  we 
are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  explain  the  meaning  of  that  communion 
or  fellowship  which  is  referred  to  in  the  text,  in  the  words, 
"we  are  one  bread  and  one  body." 

The  original  word  translated  communion,  in  this  passage, 
and  so  frequently  made  use  of  by  this  apostle,  varies  in  its 
meaning  according  to  the  nature  of  that  which  it  is  used  to 
express. 

When  the  thing  or  subject  referred  to  may  be  divided  into 
parts,  and  distributed  among  many,  so  that  each  may  have 
a  share,  it  then  means  the  communication  and  participation 
thereof,  to  and  by  the  community  or  body. 

Thus  in  the  case  of  alms-giving  or  relief  to  the  poor,  as 
this  is  a  distribution  of  a  pai't  of  our  substance  to  the  neces- 
sities of  others,  and  a  religious  duty;  it  is  expressed  in  the 
original  by  the  same  word,  because  it  is  a  communication  of 
good  to,  and  a  participation  of  relief  by,  them. 

The  same  word  is  also  applied  to  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  As  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  differences  of  ad- 
ministrations, and  diversities  of  operations,  yet  all  divided  to 
man  by  the  same  Spirit;  the  bestowing  these  gifts  and  opera- 
tions, and  the  use  and  improvement  of  them  by  men,  is  styled 
by  this  apostle  the  communion  of  the  Spirit.  And  because 
one  consecrated  loaf  of  bread  and  cup  of  wine  were  orignally 
distril)uted   in  the  Church,  as  memorials  of  Christ's  death. 


COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS.  299 

and  of  the  honefits  derived  to  men  thereby;  therefore,  the 
participation  of  those  emblems  in  the  eueharist,  by  his  dis- 
ciples, is  styled  the  commmiion  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ:  that  is,  the  joint  participation  of  those  emblems 
which  represent  his  body  broken,  and  blood  shed  upon  the 
cross,  for  the  salvation  of  sinners;  and  the  joint  acknowledg- 
ment of  those  partaking  of  them,  that  they  depend  only  on 
the  eflScacy  of  this  sacrifice,  for  pardon,  grace,  and  everlast- 
ing life. 

When,  however,  the  thing  or  subject  in  question  is  inca- 
pable of  division  or  partial  distribution,  but  each  one  must 
have  the  whole;  the  word  then  means  a  fellowship  or  joint 
participation  in  the  same  thing.  In  this  sense.  Christians 
are  said  to  be  called  by  God,  to  the  fellowship  of  his  Son — 
to  have  a  fellowship  in  his  sufferings,  in  his  death,  in  his  re- 
surrection, and  in  his  glory — to  be  heirs  together  of  the  grace 
of  life,  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ;  and  thus 
St.  John  expresses  it  where  he  says,  "and  truly,  our  fellow- 
ship or  communion  is  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son." 
In  like  manner,  my  brethren,  the  communication  and  joint 
participation  of  all  good  things  in  the  Church  militant,  in 
connexion  with  those  who  by  the  same  means  have  joined 
the  Church  triumphant,  is  what  is  meant  by  our  professing 
to  believe,  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  creed,  in  the  communion 
of  saints. 

The  doctrine,  therefore,  referred  to  in  my  text,  in  the  words 
"we  are  one  bread  and  one  body,"  will  mean  this:  that  by 
our  joint  participation  of  the  established  symbols  of  Christ's 
death  in  the  eueharist,  we  do  in  effect  declare  our  union  with 
Christ  in  his  death,  our  trust  and  dependence  on  this  his 
sacrifice  and  atonement,  for  satisfaction  to  the  divine  justice 
— our  hope  to  be  also  partakers  of  his  resurrection,  and  our 
union  and  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  with  all  who 
have  departed  this  life  in  the  taith  and  hope  of  the  gospel. 
That  as  there  is  one  bod}^  or  Church  of  Christ — one  Lorh  or 
head  over  that  Cliurch — one  faith  possessed  in  it — one  hap- 
tism,  or  door  of  entrance,  to  its  privileges — one  hoj)e  of  our 
calling  in  it,  and  one  authority  for  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments  in  it;  so  is  there  also,  but  one  bond  of  love  and 
union,  and  one  channel  of  grace,  from  one  everliving  source 


300  COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS. 

of  spiritual  nourishment,  growth  and  life,  to  the  disciples  of 
Christ  throughout  the  world. 

Hence  it  is  said  in  this  cliapter,  of  the  Church  in  the  wil- 
derness, "that  they  did  all  eat  of  the  same  spiritual  meat,  and 
did  all  drink  of  the  same  spiritual  drink,  for  they  drank  of 
that  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them,  and  that  rock  was 
Cheist."  Hence  the  doctrine  in  my  text,  that  all  the  true 
disciples  of  Cheist  are  one  bread  and  one  body,  that  is,  one 
body  or  society,  because  they  partake  of  that  one  bread, 
which  by  virtue  of  its  consecrated  character  represents  Jesds 
Cheist  and  him  crucified,  and  confers  on  the  worthy  receiver 
tlie  inestimable  benefits  purchased  by  the  passion  and  death 
of  the  Son  of  God.  Not  separate  assemblies  of  worshipping 
people,  differing  in  name,  in  authority,  in  form  of  worship, 
and  in  received  doctrine;  but  one  extended  Society  of  believ- 
ers in  Cheist — professing  the  same  faith — fed  by  the  same 
spiritual  food  and  drink — consecrated  and  administered  by 
the  one  authority  of  the  liead  of  the  body,  and  as  an  incon- 
testible  evidence  thereof,  "continuing  steadfast  in  the  apos- 
tles' doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and 
in  prayers." 

This,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  was  tlie  root  of  unity  to  the 
first  Christians,  the  ground  of  their  assurance  in  working  out 
their  eternal  salvation.  "They  were  built  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Cheist  himself  being 
the  chief  corner  stone.  From  whom  the  whole  body,  fitly 
joined  together  and  compacted  by  that  which  every  joint 
supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  working  of  the  measure 
of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  tlie  body  unto  the  edifying 
of  itself  in  love" — and  it  will  be  of  the  same  vital  eflScacy  to 
us  also,  if  we  entertain  the  same  sense  of  the  spirit,  and  ob- 
ligation, and  purpose,  of  this  appointment  of  the  wisdom  of 
God,  and  bear  ever  in  mind,  that  in  the  great  concerns  of  re- 
ligion, "other  foundation  can  no  man  lay,  than  that  is  laid, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ." 

n.  Secondly,  I  am  to  consider  the  origin  and  nature  of  the 
principle  in  which  that  communion  or  fellowship  consists. 

In  the  undertaking  of  Jesus  Christ  for  a  lost  world,  there 
was  a  double  purpose  to  be  answered,  my  brethren  and  hear- 
ers.    First,  to  reconcile  a  justly  offended  God  to  the  world  of 


COMMUNION    OF   SAINTS.  301 

bis  creatures,  and  secondly,  to  nnite  men  to  each  other,  and 
all  to  God,  in  the  living  bond  of  brotherly  love. 

Of  the  first,  tlie  gospel  is  the  authentic  declaration  to  the 
world,  that  Christ,  by  the  suffering  of  tlie  cross,  having  made 
the  required  satisfaction  tu  the  justice  uf  God,  for  the  sins  of 
mankind,  a  door  of  mercy  is  thereby  opened,  and  a  day  of 
grace  and  repentance  granted,  to  every  sinner  of  the  race 
of  Adam.  Hence  we  read  "that  God  was  in  Christ,  recon- 
ciling the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses 
unto  them."  And  hence  Christ  is  said  to  have  "made  peace 
by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  and  of  twain  one  new  man."  And 
this  not  only  between  heaven  and  earth — between  Jew  and 
Gentile,  but  between  all  wlio  embrace  his  doctrine,  and  im- 
bibe his  Spirit,  as  the  only  certain  and  allowable  evidence, 
that  the  religion  he  came  to  establish  in  the  world  is  so  re- 
ceived as  to  bring  forth  its  })roper  fruits. — "By  this  shall  all 
men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to 
another." 

Of  this,  the  second  object  of  his  undertaking  for  sinners, 
all  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  ^nd  the  very  foundation  of 
gospel  hope,  are  so  constructed  as  not  only  to  bear  witness 
of  the  fact,  but  to  produce  it  in  the  heart.  The  love  of  God, 
manifested  towards  his  enemies  in  the  gift  of  his  only  begot- 
ten Son,  to  suffer  and  die — the  love  of  Christ,  in  consenting 
to  be  thus  made  an  offering  of  sin,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven  to  renew,  and  strengthen,  and  sanctify 
the  hearts  of  sinners — what,  my  brethren,  so  calculated  to 
soften,  and  subdue,  and  engage  the  affections  of  rational  be- 
ings— to  lead  them  back  to  God,  by  turning  them  round  from 
sin,  and  prepare  them  fur  that  everlasting  reward  revealed 
to  their  faith  through  the  Eedeemer's  merits?  And  this  is 
the  very  message  of  the  gospel,  the  glad  tidings  which  have 
come  from  heaven  to  every  one  of  us,  without  exception. 
This  is  that  message  of  mercy  which  I  am  commissioned,  as 
an  ambassador  for  Christ,  to  proclaim  to  every  one  of  you, 
and  to  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  as  though  God  did  beseech 
you  by  us — Be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  And  O  that  you  could 
be  prevailed  upon  to  hear  it,  and  lay  it  to  heart. 

And  when  this  purpose  is  answered,  when  the  gospel  is 
embraced,  when  its  law  rules  the  life,  when  its  bope  fills  tho 


302  coirMUNioN  of  satnts. 

heart,  when  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height, 
of  God's  rich  redeeming  love,  expands  all  the  affections,  and 
enlarges  them  to  feel  that  "if  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also 
to  love  one  another" — what  more  uniting  principle  can  be 
thought  of,  my  brethren,  to  knit  together  in  one,  those  who 
are  partakers  of  this  grace — especially  when  assembled  round 
the  table  of  our  common  Lord,  our  hearts  filled  with  all 
those  emotions  wliich  a  deep  sense  of  our  own  un worthiness, 
and  of  God's  unspeakable  mercy  draw  forth,  we  partake  to- 
gether of  that  one  bread,  which  represents  our  Redeemer 
laying  down  his  life  for  ns — our  sins  thereby  forgiven,  and. 
all  other  benefits  of  his  passion  conferred  on  the  faithful  in 
this  sacrament.  When  we  thus  manifest  to  the  world,  my 
brethren,  that  this  is  our  hope,  even  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified  for  us,  what  more  appropriate  appellation  can  be 
given  to  this  holy  union  of  a  common  benefit,  and  a  common 
hope,  than  the  communion  of  saints?  And  what  more  pow- 
erful obligation  to  cherish  and  strengthen  the  cords  of  Chris- 
tian love,  can  be  laid  upon  believers,  than  to  be  thus  as- 
sured "that  they  are  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners,  but 
fellow  citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God." 
The  origin  of  the  principle,  therefore,  in  which  this  com- 
munion or  fellowship  consists,  must  be  referred  to  what  is 
the  foundation  of  the  Christian  character  in  fallen  man — the 
communication  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  renewing  the  heart,  and 
transforming  us  in  the  spirit  of  our  minds.  Until  this  change  is 
wrought  in  us  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  there  is  no 
room  for  any  thing  of  a  divine  or  heavenly  nature  to  dwell  in. 
Constitutional  good  temper,  compassionate  disposition,  or  ju- 
dicious education,  may  produce  the  semblance  of  a  gracious 
state,  but  it  is  only  the  semblance;  and  thousands  are  de- 
luded thereby  to  think  well  of  their  state,  while  at  the  same 
time  there  is  nothing  of  love  to  God,  no  sense  of  obligation 
to  Christ,  no  constraining  power  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel, 
pervading  the  whole  course  of  their  conduct.  Yet,  my  dear 
bearers,  we  know,  beyond  all  dispute,  even  by  the  reason  of 
our  own  minds,  confirmed  by  the  word  of  God,  that  if  a  cor- 
rupt tree  is  ever  to  bring  forth  good  fruit,  the  tree  itself  must 
previously  be  made  good.  Even  so  must  it  be  with  fallen 
man.    By  nature,  he  is  a  corrupt  tree.    By  grace  only  can 


COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS.  303 

the  tree  be  made  good.  And  without  this  mighty  change 
wrought  in  us,  there  can  be  no  fellowship  with  God,  with  his 
Son,  or  with  the  children  of  God,  because  there  is  nothing 
common  to  both — nothing  in  whicli  thej  are  mutually  inte- 
rested— no  near  and  dear  sense  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ, 
shed  abroad  in  the  heart,  and  drawing  out  their  soul  in  love 
and  good  will  to  all  men,  especially  to  them  who  are  of  the 
household  of  faith. 

O  who  is  athirst  for  this  blessed  privilege,  who  is  desirous 
to  burst  the  bonds  of  unbelief,  to  break  the  chains  of  sin,  to 
yield  to  the  sceptre  of  divine  love,  and  experience  the  trans- 
forming power  of  divine  grace?  Let  him  turn  to  the  gospel, 
that  he  may  learn  his  want,  and  find  the  remedy.  There  let 
him  see  that  Jesus,  who  loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us, 
and  redeemed  us  to  God  by  his  own  blood,  and  learn  of  him, 
and  he  shall  lind  rest  to  his  soul — rest  from  the  power  of  sin 
— rest  from  the  fear  that  hath  torment — and  "rest  with  us 
when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his 
mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them 
that  know  not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ." 

III.  Thirdly,  I  am  to  sliow  you  the  nature  and  extent  of 
those  duties  which  grow  out  of  the  participation  of  this  one 
established  symbol  of  union,  among  the  disciples  of  Christ 
throuojhout  the  world. 

The  duties  of  the  professing  Christian  may  fitly  be  con- 
sidered as  general  and  special;  but  in  neither  case  are  they 
increased  in  number  by  coming  forward  to  this  sacrament, 
the  effect  of  this  ordinance  being  to  enforce  the  obligation  of 
existing  duties,  and  to  increase  the  diligence  and  earnestness, 
wherewith  we  apply  ourselves  to  the  pertbrmance  of  them; 
while  at  the  same  time  we  are  furnished  in  it,  when  worthily 
received,  with  grace  or  spiritual  help,  equal  to  all  that  is  re- 
quired at  our  hands,  of  Christian  duty. 

The  general  duties  of  the  Christian  grow  out  of  his  relation 
to  the  Church,  as  a  member  of  the  visible  body  of  Christ, 
and  comprise  whatever  can  contribute  to  the  honor  and  in- 
crease of  the  body — to  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  to  the  pro- 
moting the  influence  of  true  religion  in  all  around  him,  and 
through  these  to  the  advancement  of  the  glory  of  God.    To 


304  COMiTONION   OF    SAINTS. 

the  serious  Christian,  adoption  into  the  family  of  Christ  is 
indeed  a  new  i-ehition;  all  whose  o'hligations  and  privileges 
are  carefully  considered,  and  iaithfully  observed.     They  re- 
fer, therefore,  to  his  public  and  visible  conduct  in  the  com- 
mon affairs  of  life,  all  of  which  is  regulated  by  the  presiding 
principle  which  he  professes.     Seeking  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness,  the  world,  in  its  business  and  in 
its  pleasure,  is  made  subservient  to  this  great  end — no  un- 
lawful conformity  with  its  sinful  courses  is  submitted  to;  but 
it  is  so  used  as  not  abusing  it.     Called  to  an  incorruptible 
inheritance,  he  labors  to  make  his  calling  and  election  sure. 
Having  openly  professed  himself  a  disciple  of  Cukist,  he  is 
watchful  to  bring  no  reproach  upon  the  gospel,  but  rather,  to 
adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  his  Saviour,  in  all  things.     He  is, 
therefore,  constant  and  regular  in  his  attendance  on  the  pub- 
lic ministrations  of  religion.     His  heart  is  with  it.     He  enjoys 
it,  and  his  enjoyments  increase  with  liis  diligence  and  faith- 
fulness.    He  is  forward  to  provide  the  established  means  of 
grace  for  others,  and,  according  to  his  ability,  is  ready  and 
willing  to  distribute  to  the  spiritual,  as  well  as  to  the  tempo- 
ral, necessities  of  his  brethren.     Having  well  considered  the 
f'Tounds  of  his  public  stand  in  religion,  he  is  steadfast  to  his 
principles — there  is  no  iiidifference  towards  that  on  which  he 
lias  staked  his  eternal  interests,  nor  is  there  any  uncharita- 
l)leness  towards  those  who  have  chosen  a  different  way.    Be- 
ino-  ready  himself  to  render  a  reason  of  the  hope  he  enter- 
tains, he  follows  peace  with  all  men — but  he  is  not,  therefore, 
carried  about  with  divers  and  strange  doctrines — nor  yet  de- 
luded with  the  impossible  attempt  to  reconcile  truth  and 
error,  order  and  confusion.     This  course  may,  indeed,  bring 
upon  him  the  reproach  of  foolish  men,  but  it  insures  him  the 
approbation  of  his  own  conscience — and  that  alone  can  bring 
a  man  peace  at  the  last. 

The  special  duties  of  the  Christian  grow  out  of  his  relation 
to  God,  as  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ — made  a  child 
of  God  by  adoption  and  grace,  and  bound,  by  the  baptismal 
covenant,  to  the  improvement  of  all  his  talents. 

These,  therefore,  include  the  private,  personal  religion  of 
the  man — the  things  which  are  transacted  between  God  and 
himself  alone,  as  well  as  those  which  are  not  of  a  directly 


COMilUNION   OF   SAINTS.  305 

public  nature — and  here  it  is  that  the  sincerity  and  truth  of 
Christian  profession  are  manifested.  If  the  fear  and  the  love 
of  God  lead  us  to  our  closets,  and  intercourse  Avith  heaven, 
in  prajer  and  meditation,  lift  our  hearts  above  the  world,  he 
that  seeth  in  secret  stands  engaged  in  our  behalf,  and  the 
grace  of  his  Holy  Spikit  is  supplied  for  our  strength  and 
guidance  in  all  required  duty;  and  as  the  duties  of  religion 
are  mixed  up  with  the  common  duties  of  our  several  stations 
in  life,  the  private  exercises  of  religion  best  prej)are  us  to  ful- 
fil our  Christian  calling. 

Of  those  special  duties  which  are  not  of  a  directly  public 
nature,  the  most  important  is  that  which  the  Christian  owes 
to  his  family.  As  that  is  first  in  his  affections,  there  is  he 
allowed  and  required  to  manifest  the  full  fervor  both  of  na- 
tural love  and  religious  affection.  His  exertions  for  their 
temporal  comfort  are  religious  duties.  "If  any  provide  not 
for  his  own,  specially  they  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied 
the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  How  much  more 
strongly,  then,  will  this  condemnation  apply  to  those  parents 
who  neglect  the  spiritual  concerns  of  their  families?  And 
would  to  God  that  professing  parents  could  be  made  to  see 
and  to  feel  how  solemnly  they  are  bound  to  this  duty — ^how 
inseparably  it  is  united  with  their  own  claim  to  the  name  of 
Christian — how  fatally  they  deceive  themselves,  if  they  hope 
to  work  out  their  own  salvation,  while  that  of  those  who  are 
bone  of  their  bone  and  flesh  of  their  flesh,  is  neglected.  With 
me  this  neglect  is  decisive,  that  in  those  to  whom  it  applies, 
either  absolutely  or  in  a  cold  and  careless  attention  to  the 
duty,  the  religious  principle  is  not  present,  is  not  yet  formed 
— there  is  some  delusion  at  the  bottom — some  fatal  deceit, 
crying  peace  where  there  is  no  peace.  For,  independent  of 
natural  aflection — independent  of  the  solemn  stipulations 
entered  into  at  their  baptism — the  spirit  of  religion,  where  it 
occupies  the  heart,  delights  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  com- 
munications to  others,  and  j^earns,  in  a  manner  inexpressible, 
to  find  those  who  are  dear  to  us,  united  in  the  same  bond  of 
love,  and  partakers  of  the  same  blessed  hope. 

Of  the  same  obligation,  though  lower  in  degree,  are  the 
claims  of  relationshiiD  and  kindred  upon  the  Christian;  and 
it  is  to  the  praise  of  the  gospel,  and  a  strong  proof  of  its  di- 
[Yol.  1,— *20.] 


306  COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS. 

vine  original,  that  its  dntics  and  its  enjoyments  are  all  con- 
nected witli,  and  hound  np  in,  the  natnral  aft'ections  of  our 
condition.  Its  commandment  is  benevolence;  its  law  is  love; 
love,  commencing  in  the  dear  relations  of  family  union,  em- 
bracing the  connexion  of  kindred,  and  branching  out  to 
friends,  country  and  kind,  and  rendered  still  more  sacred  by 
the  holy  hope,  that  though  broken  and  interrupted  here, 
they  will  again  be  i-evivcd,  where  no  separation  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  break  in  upon  their  enjoyment. 

But,  my  brethren,  if  the  common  relations  of  life  have  the 
duties  belonging  to  them  enforced  by  the  sanctions  of  reli- 
gion, much  more  are  those  which  spring  from  fellowship  in 
the  one  faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel,  imprinted  with  the  sa- 
cred character  of  that  holy  relation — "ye  arc  one  body,  for 
ye  are  all  partakers  of  tliat  one  bread."  The  mutual  love, 
comfort,  help,  and  countenance,  which  we  owe  to  each  other 
in  the  common  relations  of  life,  are  sanctified  to  a  holier  ob- 
ligation by  our  mutual  relation  to  Chkist. 

In  this  view  they  overstep  the  boundaries  of  time,  and 
branch  out  into  that  imseen  world,  of  which  faith  is  the  evi- 
dence. Tliey  are  the  commencement,  here,  in  an  imperfect 
degree,  of  that  course  of  love  and  good  will,  of  that  compla- 
cency and  delight,  which  will  be  perpetuated  in  eternity. 
But  it  must  be  begun  here,  if  we  would  enjoy  it  there;  for 
just  as  sure  as  we  entertain  any  hostile,  malevolent,  unmer- 
ciful or  unforgiving  tempers  towards  our  brethren  here,  so 
sure  may  we  be,  that  the  spirit  of  love  and  joy  and  peace 
which  presides  in  heaven,  will  reject  us  from  that  blessed 
abode  of  pure  and  perfect  happiness. 

Let  us  learn  then,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  that  the  reli- 
gion of  the  gospel  takes  nothing  from,  but  adds  to  the  enjoy- 
ments of  this  life;  that  the  obligations  we  come  under  by  em- 
bracing the  gospel,  are  not  a  hard  and  gi-ievous,  but  a  light 
and  easy  burden,  growing  more  and  more  pleasurable,  as  we 
experience  more  and  more  of  its  gracious  effect  upon  our 
hearts;  and  that  the  duties  of  religion  are  all  calculated,  by 
infinite  wisdom,  to  increase  the  sum  of  human  happiness  in 
time,  and  to  perpetuate  it  in  eternity. 

Under  these  obligations  you  come,  my  Christian  brethren, 
by  partaking  of  that  one  bread;  and  may  the  knowledge  of 


COMMUNION   OF  SAINTS.  307 

your  duty  he  followed  by  a  faitliful  and  fruitful  performance 
of  it.  Your  Redeemer  speaks  to  you  in  this  ordinance,  in  the 
moving  and  affectionate  language  of  one  who  manifested  his 
love  by  laying  down  his  life  for  your  souls,  "be  ye  kind  one 
to  another,  tender  hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as 
God  for  Christ's  sake,  hath  forgiven  you."  'He  speaks  to  you 
in  this  ordinance  of  that  mystical  bond,  by  which  you  are 
constituted  one  body  with  him,  and  with  the  blessed  compa- 
ny of  all  faithful  people;  and  through  the  humiliation  of  his 
death,  he  would  lift  your  faith  to  the  communion  of  saints 
and  angels  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,  where  sin 
and  sorrow,  pain  and  death,  shall  be  forever  banished  from, 
the  paradise  of  God. 

I  come  now  to  make  a  short  application  of  the  subject. 

Tlie  knowledge  of  our  duty,  my  brethi-en,  is  one  thing — 
the  performance  of  it  another;  and  we  are  too  often  disposed 
to  rest  contented  with  the  knowledge,  while  we  leave  the 
duty  undone. 

To  a  Christian  congregation,  all  that  I  have  said  ought  to 
be  familiar,  and  where  this  is  the  case,  the  only  advantage 
will  be  the  refreshing  your  memories  with  admitted  truths. 
But  to  profit  you,  my  brethren,  the  truth  must  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  your  consciences.  How  is  it  with  you  then, 
in  the  application  of  this  subject?  Is  that  holy  principle  of 
love  and  union,  which  animates  the  mystical  body  of  Chkist, 
alive  and  active  in  your  hearts?  Is  it  manifested  in  com* 
passion  and  relief  to  the  suffering  members  of  Christ?  Is  it 
drawn  out  in  prayer  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Church,  and 
followed  by  exertions,  according  to  ability,  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom?  Is  it  exercised  with  zeal  and 
diligence,  for  the  eternal  interests  of  your  family?  Do  you 
long  and  even  agonize  that  they  may  be  added  to  the  com- 
miuiion  of  saints,  and  increase  your  hope  and  your  thankful- 
ness,  in  the  dear  expectation  of  meeting  them  at  the  right 
hand  of  God?  Or  are  your  cliildren  permitted  to  grow  up, 
like  the  wild  ass's  colt,  untutored  in  the  knowledge  of  God, 
of  themselves,  and  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  though  carefully 
furnished  for  the  course  of  this  present  e%dl  world?  And  is 
there  not  to  many  of  you,  my  brethren,  a  nearer  interest 
still,  in  some  dear  husband  or  wife,  who  are  strangers  yet  to 


SOS  COMMUNION   OF   SAINTS'. 

the  hope  of  the  gospel,  for  whom,  the  deep,  contimied,  and' 
fervent  supplication,  besieges  the  throne  of  gi'ace,  and  wres- 
tles with  God  for  the  blessing?  O,  ask  yourselves  these  ques- 
tions, dear  brethren,  and  thence  judge  in  what  degree  the 
spirit  of  Christian  love  is  abiding  in  your  hearts;  that  true 
and  genuine  heatenly  temper  which  cultivates  good  will  to 
all,  in  the  faithful  exercise  of  Christian  duty  to  its  own.  Tliis 
is  the  order  which  heaven  has  appointed,  which  heaven  has 
promised  to  bless,  which  alone  is  practical  to  us.  It  is  the 
only  practical  rule  also,  in  the  exercise  of  Christian  charity,, 
in  a  divided  Christian  world.  To  pretend  to  more  is  to  de- 
ceive ourselves,  and  to  put  words  for  things;  is  to  promote 
indifference  instead  of  love,  and  to  neutralize  the  just  and 
commanding  claims  of  revealed  religion  and  instituted  means 
of  grace;  is  to  make  this  blessed  sacrament,,  my  brethren,  a 
mere  ceremony,  and  not  an  effectual  means  of  heaven's  grace^ 
to  our  souls. 

Draw  near,  then,  with  true  hearts,  in  full  assurance  of' 
faith,  in  the  exercise  of  that  forgiveness  which  mercy  expe- 
rienced calls  for;  in  the  exercise  of  that  j^enitence  which  a 
sense  of  many  sins  and  short  comings  must  beget  in  your- 
hearts;  in  the  exercise  of  that  lively  faith  which  springs  fronn 
this  manifestation  of  God's  truth  and  love,  in  the  fuMlment 
of  his  gracious  promises;  in  the  exercise  of  that  hope  which 
springs  from  the  resurrection  of  Christ;  in  the  exercise  of 
that  charity  which  includes  all  for  whom  Cheist  died;  and 
in  earnest  prayer  that  he  who  died  for  all,  would  be  pleased 
to  bless  and  sanctify  this  memorial  of  his  passion  and  death^, 
to  the  spiritual  nourishment  of  your  souls,  to  the  increase  of 
his  love  in  your  hearts,  and  to  the  advancement  of  his  glory 
in  the  world;  especially,  that  he  would  be  gi*acious  to  those 
over  whom  yom"  hearts  yearn,  until  Cheist  be  formed  in 
them — "Tliat  the  eyes  of  their  understanding  being  enlight- 
ened, they  may  know  wliat  is  the  hope  of  his  calling,  and 
what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints, 
and  what  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  t^  us  ward, 
who  believe." 

"Now,  our  LoED  Jesus  Cheist  himself,  and  Gtod,  even  our 
Father,  which  hath  loved  us,  and  hath  given  us  everlasting 
consolation  and  good  hope,  through  grace,  comfort  your 
hearts,  and  stablish  you  in  every  good  word  and  work."  Amen. 


SERMON  VL. 


'^Nrry  of  the  chukch. 


Ephesiansi,  IV.  4. 
"There  is  one  body." 

It  lias  come  to  pass,  my  brethren  ^5id  hearers,  from  causei 
Neither  very  remote  from  observation,  nor  difficult  to  be  in- 
vestigated, that  what  was  once  of  tlie  highest  importance  to 
the  comfort  and  assurance  of  a  Christian  in  the  great  concern 
of  eternity,  is  now,  throughout  a  very  extended  portion  of 
the  Christian  world,  lost  sight  of  and  rejected,  as  an  article 
of  the  faith  -once  delivered  to  the  saints;  and  considered  in 
those  who  entertain  it^,  as  the  mark  of  an  illiberal,  unchari- 
table, and  bigoted  spirit.  I  mean  the  doctrine  of  the  unity 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  its  use  or  purpose  in  the  mighty 
;and  merciful  work  of  'bringing  sinners  to  salvation,  and  pre*- 
paring  them  for  eternal  glory. 

That  it  is  a  prominent  'doctrine,  however,  one  which  we 
profess  to  receive  as  the  urterring  and  unchangeable  word  o!^ 
God,  can  be  denied  only  by  those  who  are  Uiider  the  domin- 
ion of  ignorance  or  prejudi-ce.  The  words  of  my  text,  in 
vconnexion  with  the  context,  even  were  there  no  parallel  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  being  suffi-cient  of  themselves  to  awaken 
■and  excite  our  attention  to  the  subject — for  in  all  that  is  re- 
vealed our  benefit  is  intended^=— and  it  is  our  duty  to  search 
it  out,  "that  we  may  know  what  is  that  acceptable  and  per- 
fect will  of  CrOD  concerning  us,"  and  apply  ourselves  thereto 
with  all  the  earnestness  and  exactness  of  minds  truly  en- 
,gaged  in  working  out  their  everlasting  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling. 

Tliat  edification  on  this  point  of  Christian  doctrine  is  much 
wanted,  unhappily  requires  no  other  proof  than  tlie  divided 
«tate  of  the  Christian  community^  for  it  is  never  to  be  pre- 
sumed, that  persons  seriously  con^ceraed  for  the  salvation  of 
their  souls  would  knowingly  reject  WhMtfee  Scriptures  plainly 


310 


UNITY   OF   THE   CHUKCH. 


•teach,  and  be  led  away  from  the  appointments  of  God,  into 
new  and  unknown  paths  of  error  and  division,  after  inven- 
tions of  men  who  speak  without  knowledge,  and  act  without 
warrant. 

On  the  present  occasion  then,  when  the  thoughts  are  natu- 
rally drawn  to  the  subject  by  the  erection  and  opening  of  a 
building,  to  be  set  apart  to  the  service  of  Almighty  God,  as 
a  branch  of  that  holy  apostolic  Church  which  claims  and 
possesses  a  regular  episcopal  succession  from  the  apostles  of 
our  LoKD  and  Saviour  Jesus  Cueist,  as  her  warrant  for  ad- 
ministering the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  upon  eartli,  and  for 
dispensing  the  word  and  sacraments  of  salvation  to  his  mem- 
bers; I  trust  it  may  be  allowed  to  one  of  her  ministers,  accord- 
ing to  his  poor  ability,  for  the  edification  of  all  present,  and 
for  the  comfort  and  assurance  of  those  into  whose  hearts  God 
hath  put  it  to  build  an  house  to  his  name,  to  lay  before  you 
what  the  Scriptures  teach  us  on  this  much  neglected  subject 
of  Christian  obligation;  and  to  draw  from  the  doctrine  those 
conclusions  which  are  fairly  and  reasonably  to  be  deduced 
from  them.  I  say  fairly  and  reasonably,  for  this  doctrine, 
like  every  other  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  addresses  it- 
self to  our  understanding,  to  our  interest,  and  through  these 
to  our  affections,  and  only  when  thus  received  and  applied, 
can  be  productive  of  any  benefit  to  our  souls.  With  all 
the  other  doctrines  too,  this  is  capable  of  being  perverted  and 
abused,  and  even  corrupted,  to  suit  the  particular  views  of 
designing  men,  though  we  are  plainly  warned  that  thus  to 
wrest  the  Scriptures  is  to  ensure  our  o"v\m  destruction. 

In  discoursing,  therefore,  on  this  subject,  I  shall,  in  the 

First  place,  lay  before  you  those  passages  of  Scripture 
which  declare  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Secondly,  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  you  in  what  that  unity 
consists. 

Thirdly,  I  shall  point  out  the  purpose  and  design  of  this 
appointment  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  in  the  great  work  of  our 
redemption  and  salvation;  and,  then. 

Conclude,  with  an  application  of  the  subject. 

"There  is  one  body." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  lay  before  you  those  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture which  declai'e  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Chkist, 


UNITY    OF   THE   CHURCH.  311 

Tlie  gracious  design  of  our  blessed  Lord's  coming  in  tlie 
flesh,  was  not  merely  to  declare  the  will  of  God,  to  set  an 
example  of  its  performance,  and  to  expiate  by  his  death  the 
guilt  of  sin,  and  then  leave  mankind  to  make  what  advantage 
they  could  of  the  mercy  and  reconciliation  thus  procured  for 
them;  but  beyond  this,  to  gather  together  out  of  the  world, 
those  who  received  him,  as  St.  John  expresses  it,  and  by  be- 
lieving in  him,  became  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  of  his  un- 
dertaking for  sinners.     Hence  he  is  said  to  have  suffered, 
"that  he  might  gather  together  in  one,  the  children  of  God 
scattered  abroad."     In  one,  that  is,  into  one  uniform  visible 
society,  actuated  by  the  same  spirit,  professing  the  same  faith, 
entertaining  the  same  hope,  joining  in  the  same  worship,  and 
participating  in  the  same  spiritual  food  for  the  nourishment 
of  their  souls,  in  the  administration  of  the  same  word  and 
sacraments  in  the  Church,  by   the  stewards  of  these  his 
mysteries. 

In  agreement  with  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  Scriptures 
inform  us,  that  he  came  ''to  purchase  to  himself  a  peculiar 
people,  zealous  of  good  works;"  that  "he  purchased  a  Church 
Avith  his  own  blood;"  that  this  Church  so  purchased,  is  his 
body — ^his  spouse — the  bride  the  Landj's  wife — and  that 
Christ  is  the  head  of  the  body — the  Church.  In  which  we 
must  observe  that  the  expressions,  the  Church,  his  body,  are 
in  the  singular  number,  and  denote  unity  in  the  simplest  ac- 
ceptation of  the  word.  While  tlie  figurative  descriptions 
made  use  of,  such  as  spouse,  bride,  wife,  confirm  this  unity, 
by  associations  not  to  be  mistaken.  But  it  is  from  the  pas- 
sage of  which  ni}'  text  forms  a  part,  that  we  derive  the  strong- 
est confirmation,  and  clearest  illustration,  of  this  doctrine. 

"There  is  one  body,  and  one  spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called 
in  one  hope  of  your  calling — one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism— one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  you  all."  In  which  passage  of  Scripture 
it  is  impossible,  I  think,  n(^t  to  be  struck  with  the  important 
part  here  ascribed  to  the  Church,  as  a  "^dsible  body,  in  the 
work  of  our  salvation;  not  to  perceive,  that  it  is  in  no  shape 
or  sense  the  creature  of  human  contrivance,  or  allowably  sub- 
ject to  the  alteration  or  amendment,  if  it  must  be  so  called, 
either  of  assumed  necessity,  or  presuming  wisdom. 


812  UNITY   OF   THE   CHUECH. 

In  other  places  of  Scripture,  this  body  or  Church  of  Chkist 
is  represented  as  a  family,  of  which  God  is  the  Father,  and 
Jesus  Christ  the  elder  ])rothcr,  and  first-born  from  the  dead; 
and  in  which  all  the  members  of  this  family,  in  their  several 
stations,  are  followers  of  God  as  dear  children,  walking  in 
the  steps  of  that  holy  example  which  Christ,  their  elder 
brother,  hath  set  them. 

It  is  designated  as  a  household,  in  which  Christ  rules,  as 
a  son  in  his  own  house,  every  inhabitant  deriving  from  him 
his  daily  supply,  and  rendering  those  services  which  are  con- 
sidered by  the  householder  most  beneficial  to  the  general 
good — in  which  he  appoints  what  each  shall  be  occupied 
about,  and  wherein  none  can  be  lawfully  employed  but  by 
his  direction.  It  is  spoken  of  as  a  city  of  which  Jerusalem 
was  the  type,  in  which  all  rule  and  authority  was  derived 
from  the  appointment  of  the  great  king,  in  which  only  the 
true  worship  of  the  true  God  was  maintained,  and  which  is  rep- 
resented as  builded  compact  together,  and  at  unity  in  itself. 

It  is  set  forth  as  a  kingdom,  of  which  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  king  of  saints  and  angels,  is  the  Almighty  Sove- 
reign and  gracious  Euler,  from  whom  all  power  is  derived, 
and  to  whom  all  power  in  heaven  and  upon  earth  is  com- 
mitted. 

Under  all  these  names  and  allusions,  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  my  hearers,  and  must  necessarily 
be  assimilated,  in  its  order  and  government,  to  what  is 
essential  to  the  well  being  of  each  and  all  of  those  figures,  by 
which  it  is  represented  for  our  easier  and  better  comprehen- 
sion. As  a  family  and  household,  it  must  not  be  divided 
against  itself,  lest  it  come  to  nought.  As  a  city  and  kingdom 
it  nmst  be  under  the  nde  and  government  of  its  proper 
ofiicers,  all  deriving  their  authority  from  the  king  himself. 
Nothing  short  of  this  can  entitle  it  to  be  considered  as  an 
orderly  and  regular  society,  commanding  respect  and  confi- 
dence, and  conferring  those  benefits  with  which  it  is  furnished 
by  its  living  Head. 

This  distinctive  character  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  con- 
firmed and  enforced,  by  the  unity  which  is  constantly  attri- 
buted to  those  who  are  members  of  it  here  in  its  visible  state. 
They  are  every  where  in  Scripture  spoken  of  as  one,  in  the 


UKITY    OF   THE   CHUECH.  313 

strongest  manner  in  which  unity  can  be  expressed.  Speaking 
■of  Christians  collectively,  St.  Paul  says,  "There  is  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither 
male  nor  female — for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  And 
the  same  apostle,  writing  to  the  Corinthian  Church  on  the 
subject  of  their  divisions  and  improper  intercourse  with 
Heathens  and  idolaters,  tells  them  as  an  argument  for  union, 
"Now  ye  are  the  body  of  Christ  and  members  in  particular; 
for  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the 
members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body,  so 
also  is  Christ,  for  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into 
one  body."  And  this  argument  from  the  unity  of  that  one 
sacrament,  by  which  alone  we  can  be  received  into  his  mys- 
tical body,  and  are  made  "members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh, 
and  of  his  bones,"  as  St  Paul  strongly  expresses  it,  he  carries 
forward  to  our  joint  j^articipation  of  the  eucharist,  as  a  still 
more  conclusive  demonstration  of  the  unity  of  the  body  and 
the  members.  "The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,"  says 
8t.  Paul,  "is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ? 
The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
body  of  Christ?  For  we  being  many,  are  one  bread  and 
one  body,  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread." 

Thus  clear,  plain,  and  express,  my  brethren,  is  the  warrant 
of  Scripture  for  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ — a  unity 
not  limited  by  time  or  place,  but  co-existing  and  co-extensive 
with  the  gospel — a  unity  which  includes  the  Church  trium- 
phant as  well  as  the  Church  militant,  and  from  which  we 
camiot  separate  or  disjoin  ourselves,  without  incurring  the 
heinous  guilt  of  rending  the  body  of  Christ,  and  doing  what 
in  us  lies,  to  make  void  that  aflfectionate  prayer  with  which 
our  blessed  Lord  concludes  his  ministry  upon  earth — "Holy 
Father,  keep  through  thine  own  name  those  whom  thou  hast 
given  me,  that  they  all  may  be  one,  as  thou  Father  art  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee;  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us." 

A  principle  so  important,  as  to  occupy  the  wishes  and 
prayers  of  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  at  the  ^'ery 
moment  when  the  powers  of  darkness  had  taken  possession 
of  the  hour  allotted  them,  in  which  to  prevail  against  his 
life,  cannot  surely  be  safely  disregarded  by  us,  my  friends. 
I  shall,  therefore. 


314  UNITY   OF   THE   CHUKCH. 

II.  Secondly,  endeavor  to  show  you  in  wliat  tliis  unity 
consists. 

To  determine  this  satisfactorily,  we  have  to  consider  two 
things — First,  what  it  was  in  the  preaching  of  the  apostles, 
that  presented  itself  with  unvarying  uniformity,  to  the  eyes 
and  to  the  understandings  of  all  descriptions  of  persons; — ■ 
and.  Secondly,  what  it  is  that,  to  the  present  moment,  gives 
to  the  word  and  sacraments  of  the  visible  Church,  the  same 
character  and  efficacy  in  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  evan- 
gelized world. 

As  respects  the  first  point,  there  cannot  be  a  question  that 
this  was  the  divine  authority,  with  which,  as  ambassadors  of 
Chkist,  they  were  clothed,  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trines they  taught,  and  to  ratify  the  conditions  on  wdiich  its 
sanctions  were  proposed  to  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  a 
rebel  world. 

To  demonstrate  this,  let  us  reflect,  my  brethren,  that  in 
things  which  are  not  the  objects  of  sense,  and  respecting 
which  we  can  have  no  experience,  such  us  those  which  are 
the  subject  matter  of  revelation,  the  authority  of  God,  mani- 
fested in  some  way  to  our  senses,  is  the  only  safe  foundation 
either  of  faith  or  practice.  The  obligation  we  are  undjer  to 
receive  it,  depends  upon  this  single  circumstance,  and  not 
upon  the  reasonableness,  fitness,  and  importance  of  the  things 
themselves;  that  is  a  subsequent  consideration,  and  derives 
its  weight  altogether  from  the  prior  authority  of  him,  by 
whom,  or  in  whose  name,  it  is  proposed.  Just  as  in  the 
matter  of  the  law  of  the  land,  it  is  not  the  justness,  or  expe- 
diency, or  policy  of  the  law,  which  gives  it  its  force  and 
obligation,  but  the  legitimate  authority  by  which  it  is  enacted. 
These,  indeed,  increase  the  obligation  all  are  under  to  obey 
the  law,  and  perform  the  duty;  but  they  are  subsequent,  both 
in  time  and  fact,  to  the  authority:  nor  is  that  at  all  affected 
by  them;  it  renuiins  the  same,  and,  when  supreme,  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  (piality  of  its  enactments,  as  is  exemplified  in 
the  clearest  and  strongest  manner  by  the  revelation  we  have. 
The  miracles  wrought  by  Moses  were  the  conclusive  evi- 
dence to  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  that  God  had  sent  him  as 
their  deliverer — and  to  Pharaoh  and  his  subjects,  that  heaven 
had  commanded  him  to  let  his  people  go.     Upon  the  same 


UNITY   OF   THE   CHURCH.  315 

evidence  rested  the  aiitliority  of  their  law  given  from  Monnt 
Sinai,  and  not  upon  the  reasonableness,  or  fitness,  or  wisdom, 
of  the  law  itself.  By  the  same  evidence  did  our  blessed  Lord 
demonstrate  to  that  people  that  a  greater  than  Moses  was 
present  with  them,  and  on  this  ground  did  he  challenge  their 
acceptance  of  him  and  his  doctrine:  "K  I  do  not  the  works 
of  my  Father,  believe  me  not,  but  if  I  do,  though  ye  believe 
not  me,  believe  the  works."  On  this  also  did  he  declare 
that  their  condemnation  rested  for  rejecting  the  gospel:  "If  I 
had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had  sin. 
If  I  had  not  done  among  them  the  works  which  none  other 
man  did,  they  had  not  had  sin." 

By  the  same  testimony  was  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel 
by  his  apostles,  evidenced,  supported,  and  established.  By 
mighty  signs  and  wonders,  and  works  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
attendant  on  the  persons  and  preaching  of  men  of  like  pas- 
sions with  themselves,  were  the  words  and  actions  of  the 
apostles  and  first  ministers  of  Christ  confirmed  as  the  truth 
of  GrOD,  and  verified  to  the  nations,  as  "the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life,"  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  for  the  salvation  of  a  lost 
world.  And  by  this,  and  this  only,  were  all  who  embraced 
the  gospel  certified  that  they  were  not  following  cunningly 
devised  fables,  or  led  astray  by  the  inward  assurance  of  a 
heated  or  deceived  imagination,  after  inventions  of  men,  or 
opinions  which  seemed  good  in  their  own  eyes,  on  the  un- 
speakably serious  consideration  of  the  loss  or  salvation  of 
their  souls. 

And  here  we  cannot  help  remarking,  my  friends,  with 
what  infinite  wisdom  this  first  and  standing  proof  of  the 
heavenly  origin  of  the  gospel  is  fitted  to  every  capacity.  Had 
it  been  made  to  depend  on  strength  of  understanding,  or  cul- 
tivation of  mind,  it  nuist  have  varied  with  the  unequal  state 
of  those  qualifications,  and  could  iK^t  have  p()ssessed  that 
"iniity  of  character  which  was,  and  is  yet,  essential  to  its  ef- 
fect; while  constituted  as  it  is,  it  cuts  oiF  every  shadow  of 
excuse,  and  powerfully  impels  the  mind  to  consider  and  ap- 
ply what  is  so  highly  and  incontestably  witnessed. 

Of  the  same  nature  is  the  second  consideration  on  this 
point,  to-wit:  what  it  is,  that,  to  the  present  moment,  gives 
to  the  word  and  sacraments  of  the  visible  Church,  the  same- 


316 


UNITY    OF  THE    CHURCH. 


character  and  efficacy  in  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  evaa* 
gelized  world. 

Perhaps,  my  hearers,  many  of  you  may  never  have  asked 
yourselves  the  question.  Perhaps  many  who  profess  the 
gospel,  may  never  have  considered  what  their  f^ith  and  hope 
of  its  blessings  rest  upon.  Perhaps  many  who  are  preachers 
of  the  gospel  have  never  seriously  put  to  tlieraselves  the 
question,  "by  what  authority  doest  thou  these  things?"  Per- 
haps it  may  be  considered  a  contentious  rather  than  a  useful 
inquiry,  to  investigate  and  ascertain  what  principle  it  is,  that 
from  India  to  America,  from  Iceland  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  gives  to  the  ministrations  of  Christ's  religion  the  sanc- 
tified and  saving  character  affixed  to  them  by  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith,  and  to  the  varied  millions  of  its  popula- 
tion, the  one  hope  of  their  high  and  heavenly  calling. 

And  yet,  my  hearers,  if  there  is  a  subject  on  which  we 
cannot  be  too  sure,  it  must  be  this;  if  there  is  a  point  which 
deserves  all  the  attention  we  can  give  to  it,  it  must  be  that 
which  involves  our  connexion  with  that  one  universal  Church 
or  body  of  Christ,  which  has  one  Lord,  one  fiiith,  one  bap- 
tism. Much  may  be  said  on  this  subject,  my  brethren,  and 
it  deserves  the  most  careful  consideration.  But  the  time  re- 
quires me  to  be  brief. 

As  the  Church  is  but  one  all  over  the  world,  purchased, 
founded,  and  ordered,  by  its  living  head — a  vine  with  but 
■one  root,  though  with  many  branches — as  in  that  Church 
there  is  but  one  faith  taught  and  professed,  one  God  to  wor- 
ship, one  Lord  to  serve,  one  Spirit  to  inhabit  and  abide,  and 
one  final  reward  of  eternal  life  to  be  obtained,  so  is  there  one 
only  appointed  mode  or  means  for  admission  to  its  privile- 
ges, and  one  communion  of  saints  in  it.  This  being  so,  there 
can  be  but  one  principle,  on  which  all  these  duties  can  be 
performed,  and  all  these  privileges  enjoyed;  and  it  can  only 
he  found,  in  the  joint  ])art!cipation  of  the  members  in  the 
"word  and  sacraments,  administered  by  the  one  authority  of 
the  Head.  No  other  principle  of  unity,  for  the  practical  pur- 
])oses  of  a  visible  Church,  can  be  imagined,  which  can  ope- 
rate alike  on  every  class  and  description  of  men;  none  so  rea- 
dily and  certainly  verifiable  and  available  to  that  assurance, 
which  is  the  crown  of  Christian  hope.    Which  assurance, 


UNITT   OF  THE   CHURCH.  31T 

while  it  is,  without  any  doubt,  the  witness  of  ths  Holt  Spik- 
IT,  can  only  be  relied  on  when  its  testimony  is  in  agreement 
with  that  outward  order  which  the  same  Spirit  has  revealed^ 
to  guide  us  into  all  saving  truth.  To  suppose,  <fi:  to  take  for 
granted,  that  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart  of 
man  will  be  given  in  favor  of  any  thing  in  opposition  to  the 
outward  order  and  authority  of  the  Church  as  founded  by 
Christ,  is  to  suppose  that  God  would  contradict  himself. 
Consequently  to  rely  upon  internal  impressions,  however 
strong,  which  are  in  opposition  to,  or  have  no  counterpart  in 
the  written  spirit,  as  I  may  call  it,  or  word  of  God,  is,  to  say 
the  least,  to  encourage  delusion,  and  to  cast  oui-selves  loose 
from  the  Church  and  compass  which  God  has  mercifully 
provided  for  us  to  steer  our  com'se  by,  through  the  mixed 
and  troubled  sea  of  time,  to  the  secure  haven  of  his  presence 
in  the  boundless  ocean  of  eternity. 

Should  we  count  him  a  wise  or  a  prudent  man,  who  could 
thus  act  in  any  afi'air  of  temporal  moment,  who  in  any  short 
voyage  from  one  port  to  another,  could  throw  away  his  chart, 
and  compass,  unship  his  helm,  discharge  his  pilot,  and  com- 
mit himself  to  the  great  deep,  relying  on  some  fancied  assu- 
rance in  his  own  mind,  or  plausible  reasoning  of  others,  that 
he  would  reach  his  destination  securely  without  them?  In 
like  manner  is  he  an  unwise  and  imprudent  man,  who  dis- 
cards the  more  sure  word  of  prophecy,  or  perverts  it  to  suit 
the  impressions  ol  a  disordered  and  prejudiced  imagination^ 
who,  instead  of  considering  the  word  of  God  as  a  light  shi- 
ning in  a  dark  place,  trusts  to  some  rush-light  of  human  rea- 
son, by  which  he  steers  from  the  harbor  instead  of  towards- 
it,  and  is  sooner  or  later  stranded  on  the  quicksands  of  en- 
thusiasm, or  wrecked  on  the  rocks  of  heresy  and  schism. 

It  appearing  then,  that  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ,. 
as  a  visible  society,  consists  in  the  profession  of  the  same 
faith,  the  worship  of  the  same  God,  the  entertainment  of  the 
same  hope,  in  the  communion,,  fellowship,  or  joint  participa- 
tion of  the  same  word  and  sacraments,  as  revealed  means  of 
grace,  by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  head  of  this 
body,  and  witnessed  by  the  miraculous  powers  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  given  to  his  apostles  personally  for  this  very  end,  and 
to  the  Chui'ch  to  abide  with  it  for  ever  in  his  ordinary  opera- 


S18  UNITY   OF   THE   CnURCH. 

tions;  it  follows  necessarily,  that  only  as  we  are  imited  to 
him,  in  this  holy  fellowship,  can  we  have  any  sure  and  cer- 
tain hope,  that  the  promises  of  Almight}'  God,  made  to  his 
Church  and* people,  are  ours;  for  they  are  made  to  us  by  cov- 
enant engagement  in  the  Church,  and  not  elsewhere:  they  are 
sealed  to  us  in  the  sacraments  of  that  Church,  which  can  be 
lawfully  administered  only  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  and 
fulfilled  in  the  attainment  of  that  holiness,  which  alone  can 
fit  us  for  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  first-born 
— the  Church  triumphant  in  glory.  All  which  I  trust  to 
make  more  manifest  to  you,  in  what  I  have  to  say  on  the 
next  head  of  my  discourse;  which  was, 

III.  Thirdly,  to  point  out  the  purpose  and  design  of  this 
appointment  of  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  great  work  of  our 
redemption  and  salvation. 

The  condition  of  man  as  fallen,  and  the  nature  of  religion, 
will  best  evidence  the  purpose  and  design  of  an  outward  and 
visible  Church.  The  faculties  of  the  soul  being  all  impaired 
by  sin,  and  the  desires  and  affections  of  the  heart  perverted 
from  their  original  direction;  to  make  man  a  religious  crea- 
ture, and  capable  of  loving  and  serving  his  maker,  it  was 
necessary  to  renew  his  spiritual  strength,  so  far  at  least  as  to 
enable  him  to  profit  by  that  state  of  reprieve  and  trial,  which 
the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  decreed  to  afford  him.  And 
this  Ave  have  good  reason  to.  believe  is  so  far  done  to  every 
creature  under  heaven.  But  as  trial  and  improvement  are 
of  a  progressive  nature,  and  can  only  be  met  and  carried  on 
by  care  and  diligence  on  our  part,  it  depends  on  ourselves 
so  far,  what  the  result  shall  be. 

Religion,  on  the  other  hand,  being  conversant  mainly  with 
things  invisible  and  spiritual,  all  its  sanctions  being  future, 
and  what  is  revealed  depending  simply  on  the  veracity  of 
God;  therefore,  faith,  or  a  fixed  and  firm  persuasion  of  the 
being  of  God,  and  of  the  truth  and  certainty  of  the  invisible 
things  of  a  future  state,  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  all  re- 
ligious attainment. 

This  faith  being  required  of  us,  my  friends,  and  being  the 
only  principle  which  can  counteract  and  overcome  the  influ- 
ence and  power  of  present  and  sensible  things,  which  consti- 
tute our  trial,  and  make  them  yield  to  the  higher  and  nobler 


■UNITY    OF   THE   CHURCH.  319 

tilings  which  are  revealed  to  ns;  a  gracious  and  merciful  God 
hath  so  ordered  and  disposed  what  concerns  our  religious 
condition,  as  to  strengthen  and  keep  alive  this  first  founda- 
tion of  all. 

To  that  end  the  Church,  tlie  ministry,  and  the  sacraments, 
are  instituted,  that  by  outwai'd  and  sensible  signs,  we  might 
be  reminded  and  kept  under  the  influence  of  those  invisible 
things  which  are  the  objects  of  Christian  faith  and  hope;  and 
furthermore,  that  they  might  be  means  and  channels  for  con- 
veying grace,  that  is,  spiritual  help,  to  our  souls.     This  is  the 
scriptural  and  only  just  view  we  can  take  of  them,  and  hence 
we  may  see  of  what  high  importance  the  principle  of  unity 
is  in  those  institutions,  and  particularly  that  on  which  the 
whole  depends,  to-wit:  the  authority  of  the  iustitutor,  as  the 
life-blood  which  animates  and  invigorates  the  whole  system. 
The  Church  then,  or  mystical  body  of  Christ,  is  the  rally- 
ing point  of  true  believers — the  appointed  and  visible  refuge 
of  all  who  would  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come;  and  is  aptly 
and  forcibly  represented  to  us  in  the  use,  by  the  ark  in  which 
IS'oah  and  his  family  were  saved  from  the  destruction  which 
came  upon  all  who  were  out  of  it.     In  another  place,  by  the 
figure  of  a  sheep-fold,  of  which  Christ  is  the  chief  shepherd 
and  the  door  of  the  sheep,  into  which  fold,  he  tells  us,  "who- 
soever enters  in  by  him  shall  be  saved,  and  go  in  and  out 
and  find  pasture,"  that  is,  shall  walk  at  liberty  and  have  all 
his  spiritual  wants  supplied.     It  is  further  represented  as  the 
guardian  and  keeper  of  holy  writ — of  the  Scriptures  of  our 
faith, — and  hence  it  is  styled  "the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth."     Here  again  we  must  observe,  the  absolute  and  es- 
sential nature  of  that  principle  of  unity  or  oneness  in  the 
Church,  which  I  have  been  setting  before  you.     How  else 
could  this  onl}^  rule  of  saving  faith  and  right  practice  have 
been  kept  pure  and  unadulterated,  and  transmitted  through 
so  many  ages  and  oppositions,  and  with  the  sacred  character 
of  being  able  to  save  our  souls;  and  what  else  but  this  very 
principle,  overruled  and  supported  by  the  w^atchful  care  of 
his  living  head,  makes  it  the  standard  of  truth  to  every  de- 
nomination under  the  Christian  name — the  court  of  appeals 
as  it  were,  to  the  Christian  world?     Eut  for  this  standing 
miracle — for  such  in  truth  it  is,  the  bush  burning,  but  not 


320  TINITY   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

consumed — liow  would  every  thing  calling  itself  a  Cburcby 
have  pared  and  trimmed  this  sacred  depot  of  divine  truth  to 
suit  its  own  views  of  doctrine  and  order,  and  Scripture  been 
multiplied,  until  all  reverence  and  regard  for  its  truth  and 
certainty  would  have  ceased  among  men. 

As  a  visible  society,  the  Church  must  have  its  oiBcers  for 
the  due  management  and  administration  of  its  affairs  for  the 
general  good.  And  just  as  certainly  as  no  man  has  any 
shadow  of  right  to  appoint  servants  and  prescribe  their  duties 
in  _yoiir  family,  or  in  mine,  my  hearers,  no  more  can  any  such 
right  be  presumed  or  exercised  towards  the  household  of 
Christ;  and  when  we  consider  that  the  aifairs  of  this  house- 
hold are  altogether  of  a  spiritual  nature,  and  must  depend  for 
their  effect  on  the  authority  by  which  they  are  transacted,  it 
must  be  the  height  of  delusion,  ignorance,  or  presumption, 
for  man  to  meddle  with  them  on  his  own  warrant;  hence  we 
read,  "that  no  man  taketh  this  honor  unto  himself  but  he 
that  is  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron;"  and  as  the  whole  polity 
of  the  Jewish  Church,  in  its  unity,  was  the  shadow  of  better 
things  to  come  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  the  constitution 
of  the  Christian  Church  is  founded  on  this  principle;  conse- 
quently the  right  to  minister  in  that  Church,  must  be  derived 
from  its  head  and  founder. 

In  perfect  agreement  herewith,  St.  Paul  tells  us,  that 
when  our  Lord  had  finished  his  work  upon  earth,  and  was. 
about  to  ascend  up  on  high,  "He  gave  some  apostles,  and 
some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and 
teachers,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  for  the  edifying  the  body  of  Christ,  till  we  all  come 
in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of 
God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ,"  Here  then,  my  brethren,  we  have 
the  appointment  and  the  purpose  of  the  ministry  fully  de- 
clared to  us,  and  all  depending  on  this  root  of  unity,  the 
authority  of  Christ — they  are  in  his  name  to  declare  to  you 
the  whole  counsel  of  God,  respecting  your  present  and  future 
condition,  to  call  you  to  repentance,  to  faith,  to  holiness,  as 
the  conditions  of  eternal  life.  As  ambassadors  of  Christ,, 
they  are  to  negotiate  peace  and  reconciliation  between  God 
and  his  rebellious  creatures,  and  to  ratify  the  terms  of  that 


TJNITT   OF  THE   CHURCH.  321 

new  and  gracious  covenant  of  mercy,  and  forgiveness  of  sins, 
which  Chkist  by  his  death  has  purchased  for  all  who  shall 
believe  in  his  only  saving  name. 

And  can  such  weighty  and  unspeakable  interests  be  inter- 
meddled* with  without  warrant?  Are  we  so  foolish  as  to 
transact  an  affair  of  this  importance,  without  being  well 
assured,  that  the  person  who  stands  forward  between  God 
and  us,  has  authority  from  God  to  pledge  his  promises  and 
to  receive  our  submission?  And  can  we  not  perceive  and 
understand,  in  this  appointment  of  visible  agents,  the  ex- 
ceeding goodness  of  God  our  Saviour  towards  us,  in  so  ac- 
commodating tlie  mystery  of  redemption  to  our  condition, 
that  faitli  should  have  something  to  rest  upon,  something 
outward  and  sensible  to  realize  itself  by,  and  to  grow  and 
increase,  as  we  faithfull}^  use  the  means  appointed;  can  we 
not  be  made  to  feel,  that  as  it  is  of  the  last  importance  for 
men  to  receive,  that  therefore  they  ought  to  know  with  cer- 
tainty, where  to  look  for  the  depositories  of  liis  grace  and 
Holy  Spimt;  and  is  it  not  the  very  blindness  of  delusion  to 
make  no  inquiry,  whether  those  who  say,  "Christ  is  here,  or 
lo,  he  is  there,"  have  indeed  any  authority  to  say  that  he  is 
any  where? 

But  here  it  may  be  asked,  and  very  properly,  how  are 
we  to  determine  this  point?  To  this  I  answer,  that  God 
bath  not  left  us  unprovided  on  so  material  a  circumstance, 
would  we  only  be  guided  and  directed  by  his  word.'  For 
just  as  this  was  determined  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  is  it 
to  be  determined  now — and  by  evidence  just  as  satisfactory, 
though  not  of  the  same  kind.  For  what  the  miraculous  wit- 
ness of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  to  the  divine  commission  of  the 
apostles,  iliat  the  ordination  and  authority  of  the  Church, 
founded  h^  them,  and  holding  succession  from  them,  is  to  us. 
For  it  is  the  authority  of  Christ  running  in  that  channel 
w^liich  himself  appointed,  and  is  capable  of  being  proved  oi* 
disproved  with  the  same  certainty  as  any  other  matter  of 
fact.  To  say  or  to  think  otherwise,  is  to  take  for  granted 
either  that  these  words  of  Christ  concerning  his  Church — 
"the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it" — have  failed, 
or  what  would  be  the  same  thing  in  eifect,  that  it  has  become 
so  obscured,  that  no  reasonable  search  can  find  it.  But  God 
[Vol.  1,— *21.] 


322  UNITY   OF  THE   OHUKCH. 

be  thanked,  it  is  not  so.  And  thanks  to  his  holj  and  merci- 
ful name,  he  hath  not  in  this  weighty  aifaii*  left  us  comfort- 
less. "We  can  try  the  spirits  wliether  they  are  of  God,  by 
that  open  and  verifiable  standard,  their  descent  from  those 
apostles,  to  M'hom  he  cojumitted  the  keys  of  the  kiifgdom  of 
heaven,  whom  he  empowered  to  bind  and  to  loose;  whom  he 
sent  to  convert  and  baptize  the  nations,  to  gather  and  estab- 
lish his  Church;  whom  he  empowered  to  commit  to  faithful 
men  after  them,  the  same  precious  deposit,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world;  and  whom  he  fully  authorized  for  all  these 
glorious  and  gracious  purposes  in  that  plenary  commission 
— "As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you — As  my 
Father  hath  appointed  unto  me  a  kingdom,  I  also  appoint 
unto  you  a  kingdom." 

While  the  Church,  and  the  ministry  in  it,  are  thus  wisely 
and  mercifully  constituted,  to  help  the  weakness,  and  in- 
crease the  strength  of  our  faith,  and  to  give  to  things  spirit- 
ual and  invisible,  a  body  and  substance  as  it  were,  united  to 
the  grossness  of  our  sin-enfeebled  faculties;  tlie  sacraments 
are,  in  a  more  especial  manner,  appropriated  as  the  channels 
of  that  grace,  without  which  we  can  do  nothing,  and  calcu- 
lated to  evince  in  the  clearest  manner,  the  all-pervading  in- 
fluence of  the  authority  of  Christ,  as  the  only  verifiable  root 
of  unity  in  his  Church, 

By  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  and  by  that  only,  can  we  be 
received  into  the  visible  Church,  be  made  members  of  Chkist, 
become  parties  to  the  Christian  covenant,  and  entitled,  until 
forfeited  by  personal  sin,  to  all  the  benefits  of  Christ's  under- 
taking for  us.  And  this  so  strictly,  that  an  unbaptized  per- 
son has  no  right  to  the  name  of  Christian,  nor  any  covenant 
claim  to  revealed  mercy.  But  let  no  one  here  represent  me 
as  saying,  that  persons  unbaptized  are,  therefore,  cut  oflFfrom 
all  hope  of  salvation.  What  I  say  is,  that  they  have  no 
covenanted,  or  promised  title  to  it.  In  a  matter  of  suck 
moment,  then,  where  such  mighty  benefits  are  annexed  to 
this  ordinance,  the  authority  by  which  the  sacrament  is  ad- 
ministered is  of  the  first  importance,  unless  we  entertain  the 
monstrous  notion,  that  the  certainty  and  assurance  arising 
from  authorised  ministrations  in  religion,  are  of  no  moment 
to  the  peace  and  comfort  of  believers.    But  can  any  serious 


UNITY   OF  THE   CHUECH.  323 

person  think  thus  of  so  solemn  an  ordinance  as  a  sacrament? 
And  such  an  ordinance  too,  as  lies  at  the  very  root  of  Chris- 
tian profession,  at  the  entrance  to  those  covenanted  mercies, 
which  were  ratified  in  the  blood  of  Christ;  the  seal  and 
pledge  that  we  shall  obtain  them  on  the  conditions  then 
entered  into,  and  the  instituted  means  or  channel  of  that 
grace  by  which  alone  we  are  enabled  to  fulfil  them. 

In  a  temporal  interest,  my  friends,  do  we  enter  into  a  con- 
tract with  persons  at  a  distance,  without  examining  whether 
their  representative  is  properly  and  legally  authorised  to  bind 
his  principal?  And  is  not  baptism  a  contract,  with  mutual 
engagements  between  God  and  man,  which  can  no  otherwise 
be  executed  or  transacted  but  by  an  authorized  and  ac- 
credited agent?  Alas!  what  blind  delusion  has  sei?ed  upon 
men,  that  in  what  concerns  their  immortal  souls,  they  are 
carelessly  satisfied  with  a  security  on  which  they  would  not 
risk  their  estates,  and  are  tilled  with  rage  perhaps  at  the 
friendly  hand  which  would  point  out  their  error,  while  it  is 
not  too  late  to  retrieve  their  mistake.  But  be  it  so,  whether 
they  will  hear  or  whether  they  will  forbear — the  whole  coim- 
sel  of  God  must  be  declared. 

The  same  argument  aj^plies  still  more  powerfully  to  the 
higher  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  on  which  I  have  not  time 
to  enlarge,  but  which  yourselves,  I  trust,  my  brethren,  can 
carry  out  in  its  application  to  that  ordinance,  for  the  analogy 
is  the  same,  while  the  extent  is  greater,  and  the  consequences 
of  a  higher  order. 

On  the  one  depends  our  entrance  into,  on  the  other  our 
continuance  in,  the  Christian  covenant  of  salvation,  by  grace 
through  faith. 

The  application  of  what  has  been  said,  addresses  itself  to 
the  plain  understanding  of  plain  Christian  people,  on  the 
deep  interests  of  their  condition,  as  respects  the  covenanted 
mercies  of  God  in  Chkist  Jesus — Whether  they  are  held  and 
hoped  for,  as  set  forth  in  his  true  and  lively  word,  according 
to  the  conditions  on  which  they  are  therein  limited,  or  whether 
some  unconsidered,  unauthorized  scheme  of  man's  invention, 
recent  or  remote,  is  blindly  followed  and  relied  upon,  in  what 
is  of  more  worth  than  millions  of  such  worlds  as  this.  This 
is  the  point,  my  friends,  to  which  to  bring  my  text,  and  what 


324  UNITY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

grows  out  of  it.  If  what  I  have  laid  before  you  is  a  fair  and 
reasonable  exposition  of  undoubted  Scripture,  there  can  be 
no  escape  from  it,  but  at  a  risk  which  is  terrible  to  think  of. 
And  if  the  whole  subject  is  fortified  against  all  vain  reason- 
ings, by  the  circumstance,  that  in  the  Church  derived  from 
the  apostles  of  our  Lokd  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ — the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church,  once  more  reviving  among  you — 
all  these  advantages  are  to  be  found,  with  whatever  of  Chris- 
tian edification  may  be  promised  you  elsewhere;  if  the  ques- 
tion is  between  certainty  and  uncertainty,  between  doubt  and 
assurance — if  you  may  gain  but  cannot  lose — what  room  can 
there  be  for  hesitation?  "I  speak  as  unto  wise  men,  judge 
ye  what  I  say." 

Well  do  I  know,  my  hearers,  the  power  of  prejudice  and 
early  prepossession,  and  long  had  I  to  struggle  with  it.  But 
truth  is  mighty,  and  will  prevail,  if  allowed  to  speak.  Well 
do  I  know  the  power  of  pride,  and  the  fear  of  the  world's  re- 
mark, in  stifling  the  convictions  whicli  truth  of  this  descrip- 
tion will  force  upon  the  mind.  But  it  is  the  experience  of 
every  day,  that  these  will  yield  to  temporal  convenience,  and 
temporal  interest.  And  shall  they  not  give  way  in  favor  of 
our  souls?  shall  they  not  yield  to  interests  which  are  eternal? 
Let  the  truth,  then,  be  counted  worth  a  serious  consideration. 
That  it  might  be  the  simple  truth,  and  the  plain  reasonings 
growing  out  of  that  truth,  which  should  be  laid  before  you 
this  day,  I  have  avoided  all  learned  criticisms,  all  authorities 
for  opinion,  but  the  one  irreversible  authority  of  God's  word. 

Theke  is  one  Body,  says  that  word — one  Church,  or  ark 
of  safet}'-  for  sinners  to  betake  themselves  to,  to  escape  from 
the  wrath  of  God.  Where  shall  we  find  it,  how  shall  we 
know  it?  should  be  the  earnest  inquiry  of  every  soul  seeking 
salvation.  There  is  "one  baptism,"  says  the  same  true  and 
unchangeable  word,  and  "he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved."  Who  shall  administer  to  us  this  precious 
seal  of  covenanted  mercy?  should  be  the  careful  considera- 
tion of  all  who  look  for  that  Gkace  of  God  "which  bringeth 
salvation."  There  is  one  cup  of  blessing,  and  one  bread  of 
life  to  be  partaken  of,  in  one  communion  of  saints — say  the 
Scriptures  of  truth.  Who  shall  bless  and  consecrate,  and 
hand  over  to  us  these  lively  memorials  of  a  Saviour's  dying 


UNITY   OF  THE   CHUKCH.  325 

love,  these  authoritative  pledges  of  pardon,  peace,  and  eter- 
nal life  in  him?  should  be  the  anxious  crj^  of  every  redeemed 
sinner.  "Beloved,  believe  not  every  Spmrr,  but  try  the 
Spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God,  because  many  false  pro- 
phets are  gone  out  into  the  world."  Try  them,  then,  my 
hearers,  not  by  their  own  assertions  or  reasonings — not  by 
any  pretensions  to  a  call  from  Gou,  which  they  can  neither 
prove,  or  you  determine.  Bring  them  to  that  test,  which  is 
the  same  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  and  capable  of  being 
proved  or  disproved,  with  a  certainty  which  precludes  impo- 
sition, to-wit:  the  authority  of  Christ,  transmitted  through 
his  apostles  to  the  Church — God  is  not  the  author  of  confu- 
sion^ hut  of  order.  To  this  test  bring  him  who  now  speaks 
to  you,  both  as  respects  his  office  and  his  doctrine — I  ask  no 
more — and  may  God  give  you  the  hearing  ear,  and  the  un- 
derstanding heart. 


SEHMON  YII, 


CHRISTMAS. 


St.  Matthew,  xr.  26. 

"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest." 

The  wonderful  event,  which,  as  a  Christian  people,  we 
are  called  upon  to  celebrate,  bj  the  anniversary  return  of 
this  day,  is  replete  with  every  consideration  which  can  en- 
gage the  attention,  gladden  the  hearts,  and  elevate  the  hopes 
of  a  redeemed  world.  God  made  man,  that  man  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him,  has  in  its  very  an- 
nouncement, my  brethren,  the  most  impressive  application; 
for  there  lives  not,  in  the  compass  of  this  world,  tnat  being, 
whose  highest  interests  and  brightest  hopes  are  not  bound 
up  and  identified  with  the  incarnation  of  God  the  Son.  God 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing 
their  trespasses  unto  them,  contains  such  an  animating  dis- 
covery of  the  breadth  and  length  and  depth  and  height  of 
his  rich  redeeming  love,  as  to  tune  every  heart,  and  unloose 
every  tongue  with  joyful  praise;  for  there  is  not  found  that 
descendant  of  Adam,  who  has  not  to  look  to  God  for  the 
pardon  or  penalty  of  sin.  The  union  of  the  divine  and  human 
nature  in  one  Christ,  presents  that  spectacle  of  infinite  and 
unsearchable  wisdom,  which  even  the  angels  desire  to  look 
into,  and  which  offers  to  every  soul  of  man  that  tried  foun- 
dation stone,  on  which  to  build  the  hope  that  shall  not  be 
disappointed.  And  these  all,  my  friends,  high,  holy  and 
infinite  as  they  are  in  themselves,  and  in  their  application  to 
us,  depend  for  their  truth  and  certainty,  for  their  whole  value 
and  importance,  on  the  birth  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  For  of 
this  it  may  be  said,  and  with  equal  truth,  as  is  said  of  his 
resurrection,  if  Christ  be  not  born,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, then  there  is  no  hope  for  man;  Christianity  is  a  fable 
and  revelation  a  romance. 


328  CHEISTMAS. 

'Need  we  tlien  to  wonder,  my  brethren,  that  a  season  preg- 
nant with  such  glad  tidings  and  precious  hopes,  should  be 
celebrated  by  tlie  Church,  with  such  appropriate  offices  as 
gives  to  the  religion  she  inculcates  the  cheerful  and  happy 
character  of  a  reasonable  service?  Ought  we  not  rather  to 
admire,  that  any  who  say  they  are  Christ's,  should  refuse 
this  tribute  of  annual  respect  to  the  Saviour's  birth,  and 
withhold  themselves  from  those  high  gratulations  with  which 
Christians  should  meet  each  other  on  this  morning,  and 
from  those  edifying  meditations,  which  are  prompted  by  the 
near  survey  of  this  auspicious  event?  "Unto  us  a  child  is 
born,  unto  us  a  Son  is  given,"  and  the  gracious  purpose  of 
his  advent  in  the  flesh,  with  the  fulfilment  of  that  purpose, 
in  his  life,  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension,  must  ever 
form  the  most  profitable  source  of  Christian  knowledge  and 
Christian  hope.  His  birth  into  our  nature,  my  brethren,  was 
necessary  in  order  to  our  redemption  from  sin  and  eternal 
death;  and  in  like  manner,  our  birth  into  his  nature  is  equally 
necessary  in  order  to  our  sanctification  and  attainment  of 
eternal  life.  Grant,  O  God,  that  while  we,  and  all  thy  whole 
Church,  are  rejoicing  at  the  birth  of  thy  holy  child  Jesus,  there 
may  be  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  is  brought  to  Christ, 
and  born  again  of  incorruptible  seed  by  the  living  word! 

To  that  blessed  end,  I  meet  you  this  joyful  morning,  my 
brethren  and  hearers,  with  the  gracious  invitation  of  the 
Saviour;  and  that  it  may  be  a  word  in  season  to  all,  I  shall 
endeavor  to  explain  and  point  out, 

First,  What  that  burden  is  from  which  Christ  ofiers  to 
deliver  us. 

Secondly,  The  nature  of  the  rest  he  promises  to  give  those 
who  come  to  him. 

I  shall  then  inform  you  how  to  come  to  him,  and  conclude 
with  an  application  of  the  subject. 

"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

I.  First — I  am  to  explain  and  point  out  what  that  burden 
is,  from  which  Christ  ofiers  to  deliver  us. 

To  form  some  just  estimate  of  this  part  of  our  Lord's  un- 
dertaking, we  must  consider  the  effect  of  sin  on  the  state  and 
condition  of  the  world;  for  whatever  we  may  choose  to  think 
or  say,  it  is  thus  only,  my  friends,  that  we  Qm  learn  th^ 


CHEISTMAS.  329 

infinite  importance  of  the  Saviour,  and  be  drawn  by  the 
gospel  to  come  to  him. 

From  the  nature  and  perfections  of  God,  the  first  efi'ect  of 
sin  is  separation  and  exclusion  from  him  forever;  for  he  is  of 
purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity,  and  cannot  look  upon 
sin  with  the  least  degree  of  allowance.  From  the  nature  and 
perfection  also  of  the  law  of  his  holy  government,  the  penalty 
therein  denounced  against  tlie  transgression  of  its  precepts 
must  be  inflicted.  "The  soul  that  sinneth  it  must  die — 
without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  Hence  it 
is  evident,  that  if  a  sinner,  that  is,  a  wilful  transgressor  of 
the  law  of  God,  or  a  race  of  sinners,  is  allowed  to  continue  in 
being,  it  must  be  on  some  principle  of  substitution  and  satis- 
faction, M'hereby  these  infinite  perfections  are  maintained 
and  reconciled  both  with  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  their  re- 
quirements. And  what  is  the  whole  discovery  of  revelation 
to  us,  my  hearers,  but  an  exemplification  of  that  infinite  wis- 
dom and  unspeakable  love,  whereby  God  has  provided  for 
the  exercise  of  mercy,  and  yet  preserved  inviolate  the  sove- 
reignty of  his  righteous  government? 

From  the  nature  and  condition  of  man  as  a  created  and 
accountable  being,  the  efiect  of  sin  is  spiritual  death,  or  sub- 
jection to  its  power  and  dominion  forever.  As  the  life  of  the 
soul  consists  in  union  with  God  by  his  Spikit,  the  loss  of 
this  union,  by  the  wilful  transgression  of  God's  holy  law, 
delivers  man  over  to  another  master,  even  to  the  law  of  sin 
in  his  members;  hence  return  to  God  is  impossible  to  the 
sinner  liimself;  he  is  equally  without  inclination,  as  he  is 
without  the  means  of  regaining  his  lost  estate.  The  law  of 
sin  ruling  his  depraved  and  degraded  faculties,  his  desires 
are  earthly,  sensual,  devilish;  God  is  not  in  all  liis  thoughts; 
nor  is  there  a  wish,  from  himself,  to  regain  the  divine  favor. 
But  even  were  the  wish  possible,  the  means  are  Manting. 
What  has  the  sinner  to  do  with  God?  O  that  tlie  millions 
under  the  gospel,  who  are  therefore  doubly  sinners,  would 
ask  themselves  this  question,  and  bring  it  to  trial,  even  bj 
the  reason  of  their  own  minds.  Rebellion,  disobedience,  im- 
purity, hatred;  these  form  the  sum  total  of  what  the  sinner  is 
possessed  of  in  himself;  this  is  therefore  all  that  he  could 
ofter.  But  for  each  of  these,  the  law  demands  its  penalty, 
and  justice  dooms  him  to  destruction. 


380  CHRISTMAS. 

On  the  highest  interests  of  man,  then,  his  spiritual  and 
eternal  welfare,  the  effect  of  sin  is  like  the  desolation  of  the 
"whirlwinds — it  uproots  and  scatters  them  irrecoverably.  It 
raises  a  barrier  between  God  and  man,  which  can  be  passed 
by  no  human  fraud,  or  human  fc»rce.  It  is  the  flaming  sword 
in  the  hands  of  the  cherubim,  which  turns  in  every  direction 
to  guard  the  paradise  of  God,  and  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life, 
from  all  who  are  submitted  to  its  power,  and  in  love  with  its 
bondage. 

But  this,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  though  more  than  suf- 
ficient to  show  its  detestable  nature  to  rational  beings,  is  but 
a  part  of  its  deplorable  effects.  To  sin,  as  the  canse,  we  can 
trace  all  the  miseries  of  the  present  life.  Pain,  sorrow,  sick- 
ness, disappointment,  death,  break  in  upon  every  enjoyment, 
and  cloud  the  happiest  lot  of  mortality,  with  the  sigh  of  re- 
gret, and  the  throb  of  anguish.  Inordinate  affection,  con- 
flicting interest,  pride,  passion,  and  revenge,  burst  through 
the  feeble  restraints  which  oppose  their  gratification,  and 
work  the  ocean  of  life  into  rage,  amid  the  storm  of  their 
angry  encounter.  What  period  of  life,  or  portion  of  this 
world,  is  exempt  from  its  deleterious  influence?  Infancy 
suffers,  youth  is  blasted,  manhood  withers,  and  old  age 
groans,  under  its  stroke.  Neither  wnsdom,  nor  worth,  nor 
power,  can  evade  its  curse.  It  has  obtained  possession,  and 
maintains  its  sway.  Yet  strange  to  tell,  this  public  enemy, 
this  general  destroyer,  is  nevertheless  the  close  companion, 
the  intimate  associate,  of  millions  in  Christian  lands,  who, 
though  they  are  warned  of  the  danger  heed  it  not,  but  yield 
themselves  to  its  deceitful  and  dangerous  seductions.  And 
stranger  still,  though  a  heavenly  physician  has  undertaken 
the  cure,  though  an  Almighty  Saviour  offers  his  help,  though 
the  Son  of  God  hath  taken  upon  himself  the  nature  that 
sinned,  though  he  hath  paid  the  penalty,  and  purchased  sal- 
vation for  all  that  believe  in  his  name,  "yet  they  will  not 
come  to  him  that  they  may  have  life;"  and  this  it  is,  my 
friends,  which  marks  its  deadliest  feature — it  closes  the  ears, 
it  stupifies  the  understanding,  it  hardens  the  hearts,  of  its 
votaries.  Wisdom  may  warn — experience  may  teach — yea, 
God  may  call,  but  too  often  it  is  all  in  vain — "Like  the  deaf 
adder,  they  will  not  hear  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  charm  he 
never  so  wisely." 


CHRISTMAS.  331 

In  this  short  and  very  inadequate  statement  of  the  dread- 
ful effects  of  sin,  we  learn  wliat  that  burden  is  from  wliich 
Christ  offers  to  deliver  all  who  come  to  him;  and  surely,  if 
separation  from  God — exposure  to  his  curse — suffering  in  the 
present  life,  and  everlasting  misery  in  that  which  is  to  come, 
deserve  to  be  considered  as  a  burden — such  is  the  load  under 
which  the  sinner  labors.  He  may  not  indeed  feel  it — he 
may  not  be  willing  to  believe  that  it  is  so — and  herein  is  the 
strongest  proof  of  its  power  and  dominion  over  him;  yet  as 
God  is  true,  the  guilt  and  the  damnation  of  sin  is  upon  every 
soul  under  the  gospel  who  has  not  come  to  Christ  for  de- 
liverance. This  is  the  solemn  truth  which  I  wish  to  press 
upon  your  hearts  my  hearers — which  I  wish  you  to  consider, 
to  examine,  to  weigh,  as  for  eternity;  because  it  is  this  only 
which  can  make  the  invitation  of  my  text  a  joyful  sound,  and 
Jesus  Christ  precious  to  your  souls.  "They  that  are  whole," 
indeed,  "need  not  a  physician;"  but  where  is  he  to  be  found 
who  is  free  from  the  disease,  the  mortal  distemper,  of  sin? 
where  shall  be  found  the  man  who  dare  venture  to  meet  the 
justice  of  God,  without  the  shield  of  a  Saviour's  merits?  Oh! 
"If  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly 
and  the  sinner  appear?  To-day  then,  if  you  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts,"  but  meet  this  propitious  sea- 
son, with  that  deep  and  serious  interest  which  a  message  of 
mercy  and  peace,  from  heaven  to  a  world  of  sinners,  should 
receive  from  all  to  wliom  it  is  addressed. 

II.  Secondl}^,  I  am  to  explain  and  point  out  to  you  the 
natui-e  of  the  rest  he  promises  to  give  to  those  who  come  to 
him. 

The  words  "rest"  and  "peace"  being  nearly  synonimous  in 
scripture  usage;  and  a  state  of  sin  being  a  state  of  enmity 
with  God;  it  is  with  reference  to  this,  that  the  word  rest  is  to 
be  taken.  The  rest  promised,  therefore,  will  respect  as  well 
the  life  that  now  is,  as  that  which  is  to  come. 

To  every  rational  mind,  the  most  grievous  and  heart-sink- 
ing condition  which  can  be  imagined,  is  that  of  alienation 
from  God  and  exposure  to  his  wratli.  But  this  is  tlie  con- 
dition of  all  mankind  by  nature — "All  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God."  To  be  released  and  delivered, 
therefore,  from  the  terrible  apprehensions  of  such  a  state  of 


332  CHRISTMAS. 

condemnation,  is  to  obtain  rest.  Tliis,  tlie  undertaking  of 
tlie  Son  of  God  liatli  accomplished  for  the  whole  world,  and 
converted  a  state  of  destitution  and  death  into  a  state  of  re- 
prieve and  trial,  with  means  commensurate  to  the  end.  And 
this  is  the  foundation  of  those  glad  tidings  ^Yl^ich,  by  the  gos- 
pel, are  commanded  to  be  preached  among  all  nations  for  the 
obedience  of  faith;  hence  we  read  that  "God  was  in  Christ, 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,"  that  "Christ  is  our 
peace,  having  made  peace  by  the  blood  of  his  cross,"  and 
hence  the  gracious  command  and  commission  to  his  ministers, 
"Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature — he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved, 
he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 

To  an  accountable  being,  the  consciousness  of  guilt  by  rea- 
son of  actual  sin,  and  the  conviction  that  sin  shall  not  go  un- 
punislied,  but  must  endure  for  ever  the  out-pourings  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  is  a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne.  Yet  such 
is  the  power  and  prevalence  of  sin,  even  under  the  grace  of 
the  gospel,  that  there  lives  not  the  descendant  of  Adam, 
whom  a  faithful  examination  of  himself  by  the  law  of  God, 
would  not  bring  under  all  the  fearful  forebodings  of  the  sen- 
tence denounced  against  sin.  And  from  this  heavy  burden 
also,  the  Saviour  offers  rest;  and  to  those  in  chief  who  thus 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  is  the  invitation  of  my  text  di- 
rected. Now  this  rest  consists  in  a  sure  and  certain  trust, 
wrought  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  the  re- 
vealed word,  that  for  what  Christ  hath  done  and  suffered, 
the  penitent  sinner  is  forgiven,  his  offences  blotted  out,  and 
himself  received  into  a  state  of  favor  and  acceptance  with 
God.  And  this,  my  friends  and  hearers,  is  what  is  meant  by 
experimental  religion;  the  actual  experience,  by  a  particular 
sinner,  of  tlie  pardon  procured  for  all  in  general,  by  the  death 
of  Christ;  a  blessing  of  God,  to  the  peace  and  comfort  of  his 
people  in  the  present  life,  without  which  the  religion  of  the 
gospel  would  be  only  a  speculation  of  the  head,  a  science  to 
exercise  the  ingenuity  of  the  understanding,  but  with  Avhich 
it  becomes  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  the  moving  power 
which  re-settles  the  affections,  and  rules  the  life  with  the 
love  of  GoD-  "We  love  him,  my  brethren,  because  he  first 
loved  usu"    Now  this  rest  is  attained  by  faith,  and  as  faith 


CHRISTMAS.  333 

cometli  bj  liearing,  and  hearing  by  tlie  word  of  God,  it  is 
there  we  must  look  for  its  foundation,  and  thus  it  is  found. 

In  tlie  substitution  of  the  Son  of  God  for  the  sinner  himself, 
the  believer  aj^preheuds  the  true  ground  of  his  justification 
and  acceptance;  in  the  very  nature  that  sinned,  full  satisfac- 
tion is  made  to  the  infinite  justice  of  God;  in  the  very  nature 
that  sinned,  complete  obedience  is  rendered  to  the  holy  law 
of  God.  Hence,  the  penitent  sinner  learns,  and  by  faith 
realizes,  "that  God  can  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that 
believeth  in  Jesus."  The  debt  being  paid,  the  debtor  is  re- 
leased; he  walks  at  liberty.  "Being  justified  by  faith  we 
have  peace  with  God,  through  Jesus  Chuist  our  Lokd." 

And  do  I  look  on  any  this  morning,  within  whose  reach 
this  rich  blessing  is  placed,  who  are  yet  sti'angers  to  the  com- 
fort which  peace  with  God  brings  to  the  heart?  Do  I  look 
on  any,  who,  because  they  are  without  the  experience  of  its 
power,  therefore  doubt,  and  deny  its  reality?  Alas,  my  dear 
friends,  is  there  then,  in  your  view,  nothing  in  religion,  be- 
yond the  speculative  knowledge  of  the  wonders  revealed  to 
us;  no  influence  or  eifect  of  divine  truth  upon  the  heart;  no 
constraining  power  of  the  love  of  Ciikist  upon  the  life?  Shall 
sin  be  allowed  a  testimony  which  is  denied  to  the  grace  of 
God?  Is  not  the  Spirit  given  to  convince  of  righteousness, 
as  well  as  of  sin?  O,  think  again,  and  ask  yom'selves,  where  is 
your  foundation  for  eternity;  where  is  your  rest  and  your 
peace,  when  this  world  and  its  vanities  shall  consume  away 
into  nothing?  O,  think  again,  is  sin  a  speculation;  is  death 
a  mere  phantom  of  the  imagination;  is  judgment  a  conjecture 
of  man,  and  are  heaven  and  hell  fictions  and  romance?  For 
such  they  must  all  be,  if  that  religion  which  is  provided  to 
overcome  sin  and  prepare  us  for  eternity,  is  without  an  ex- 
perimental testimony  of  its  power  and  its  peace.  O,  be  no 
longer  faithless,  but  believing;  meet  the  invitation  of  the 
Saviour  with  a  willing  mind;  resort  to  the  means  he  hath 
provided  for  you;  let  conscience  this  moment  be  heard  and 
followed,  and  then  you  shall  know  the  power  and  the  com- 
fort of  that  grace  of  God,  which  bringeth  salvation^ 

Another  part  of  the  rest  which  the  Sa%nour  promises  to  all 
who  come  to  him,  is  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin;  and 
this  also,  my  hearers,  is  a  point  of  experimental  religion,  and 
the  abiding  testimony  that  we  belong  to  Curist. 


334  CHRISTMAS. 

To  pay  tlie  ransom  of  immortal  souls  sold  under  sin;  to 
deliver  them  from  the  condemnation  due  to  it,  and  reconcile 
a  holy  God  to  his  sinful  creatures,  through  an  infinite  and  a 
priceless  work,  is  yet  but  a  part  of  his  saving  office.  To  have 
left  us  thus,  would  have  been  to  have  died  in  vain;  sin  would 
still  have  reigned,  and  man  been  shut  out  from  God. 

But  he  who  came  to  redeem  and  save  us,  my  brethren, 
came  also  "to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself;  He 
came  to  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  to  purify  unto  him- 
seh'  a  i^eculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works."  To  this  gra- 
cious end,  all  the  institutions  of  his  religion,  his  doctrines, 
his  precepts,  the  example  of  his  sinless  life,  and  the  assistance 
of  his  Holy  Spirit,  are  adapted;  these  are  all  the  purchase  of 
his  death,  and  among  those  precious  gifts  which  he  received 
for  men,  when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  and  led  captivity 
captive.  And  as  moral  beings,  these  we  are  required  so  to 
use  and  ap})ly,  as  to  fulfil  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  given. 

To  the  awakened  soul,  convinced  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  the  sinful  nature  which  yet  re- 
mains, even  in  the  true  convert,  is  the  most  grievous  of  all 
burdens.  St.  Paul  mourned  over  the  corruption  of  his  na- 
ture: I  know,  says  he,  that  in  my  flesh  dwelleth  no  good 
thing.  The  law  in  his  members  warring  against  the  law  of 
his  mind,  drew  from  him  the  impassioned  exclamation,  "Oh! 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body 
of  this  death."  And  as  all  believers  agree  with  him  in  this 
experience  of  the  remaining  power  of  sin,  so  do  they  also 
unite  in  his  testimony  to  the  means  by  which  it  is  met,  re- 
strained, and  overcome — "The  grace  of  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." 

In  the  language  of  Scripture,  my  brethren,  the  word  grace, 
when  applied  to  moral  beings,  means  assistance;  the  supply 
of  that,  without  which  we  can  do  nothing.  The  corruption 
of  our  nature  by  the  taint  of  sin,  affects  not  our  physical,  but 
our  moral  abihty;  to  this,  therefore,  the  help  of  God  is  given, 
in  working  out  our  salvation.  Hence  the  encouragement 
every  where  held  out  in  the  Scriptures,  to  those  who  embrace 
the  gospel.  "Sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you,  for  ye 
are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace — ^the  law  of  the  spuit 
of  life  in  Cheist  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of 


CHRISTMAS.  335 

sin  and  death — work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and 
to  do  of  his  good  pleasure." 

The  rest,  therefore,  which  the  Saviour  promises  to  those 
who  come  to  him,  from  the  power  and  prevalence  of  sin,  is 
of  that  nature  as  to  require  the  putting  forth  of  our  own  ex- 
ertions; and  such  must  ever  be  the  case,  where  a  moral  ob- 
ject is  to  be  attained.  Kecessitating  grace  makes  man  a  mere 
piece  of  mechanism,  no  more  capable  of  reward  or  deserving 
of  punishment,  in  the  judgment  of  a  moral  governor,  than  a 
clock  or  a  watch.  IS^o,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  "the  grace 
of  God  hath  appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  them,  that  deny- 
ing ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  they  should  live  soberly, 
righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  world." 

To  obtain  the  Saviom*'s  rest,  then,  from  the  power  of  sin, 
we  must  put  forth  the  ability  he  hath  given  in  resisting  sin 
— we  must  watch  against  its  stirrings  and  excitements — we 
must  avoid  its  temptations,  and  guard  against  all  its  approach- 
es— especially  we  must  keep  the  body  under,  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life.  St.  Paul 
speaks  of  crucifying  the  flesh,  with  the  aftections  and  lusts; 
now,  this  is  a  slow  and  a  painful  process,  but  it  is  the  only 
one  by  which  we  can  succeed.  It  is  the  only  one,  also,  which 
gives  at  the  same  time  encouragement  to  proceed.  Victory 
over  one  sinful  propensity,  is  the  Saviour's  witness,  that 
greater  is  he  that  is  for  us,  than  he  that  is  against  us.  Hence, 
the  believer  goes  on,  conquering  and  to  conquer,  till  all  his 
enemies  are  subdued;  and  the  rest  he  obtains  here,  is  a  fore- 
taste of  that  complete  and  never  interrupted  rest,  which  re- 
mains for  the  people  of  God  in  the  life  that  is  to  come. 

Well  is  our  present  state  compared  to  a  warfare,  my  breth- 
ren; and  though  it  is  a  state  of  rest,  when  compared  with 
that  of  those  who  will  not  come  to  Christ,  it  is  chiefly  in  the 
anticipation  of  the  issue,  that  this  rest  is  to  be  sought  and 
found.  "In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulations,"  says  he 
who  offers  us  rest,  "but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome 
the  world."  And  to  contrast  the  different  conditions  of  those 
who  embrace,  and  those  who  neglect,  the  gospel — let  us  think 
for  a  moment  of  their  respective  dependencies  in  the  day  of 
God.    "What  will  the  worldling,  who  has  been  too  careless, 


336  CHltlSTMAS. 

or  too  busj,  in  tlie  present  life,  to  heed  the  calls  of  the  Sa- 
viour, then  have  to  depend  on?  Will  the  farms  and  the  mer- 
chandize, the  pleasures  and  the  applause  of  the  world,  have 
merit  in  the  sight  of  God  to  deliver  his  soul?  Will  the  neg- 
lect of  the  gospel  stand  excused,  by  intentions  never  realized? 
Can  any  supposable  case  be  pleaded,  in  extenuation  even, 
for  not  coming  to  Chkist?  Alas!  my  dear  hearers,  be  not 
deceived  by  the  specious  deceits  of  sin.  The  care  of  the  soul 
is  the  one  thing  needful.  And  what  will  the  humble  Chris- 
tian, who  has  obeyed  the  call,  and  come  to  the  Saviour  for 
life,  and  staked  his  soul  on  his  power  and  willingness  to  save 
— who  has  striven  against  sin,  and  grown  in  grace — 'what 
will  he  have  to  oifer  to  God  in  that  awful  day?  The  Saviour's 
blood,  the  Saviour's  merits,  the  Saviour's  righteousness — 
received  and  applied  by  faith. — 'The  wedding  garment  of 
holiness,  the  passport  to  eternal  life,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Chkist  and  of  God. 

Every  way,  then,  it  is  safe  to  come  to  Cueist;  in  this  life, 
it  is  rest  fr<;)m  the  guilt,  and  the  power,  and  the  condem- 
nation of  sin;  and  in  the  life  to  come,  it  is  eternal  felicity  in 
the  presence  of  God?  O,  who  is  athirst  for  this  blessing — 
who  is  mourning  under  the  pi'essure  of  sin — who  is  sufl'ering 
under  its  present  miseries,  and  dreading  its  future  wages,  the 
weary  and  the  heavy  laden  with  its  intolerable  burden?  To 
you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation  sent.  The  Saviour  calls — 
"Come  unto  me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  O,  let  your  ears 
and  3^our  hearts  open  to  the  glad  tidings,  and  make  this 
happy  season  of  his  advent  in  the  flesh,  the  anniversary  of  a 
new  and  heavenly  birth  in  your  souls.  "Now  is  the  accepted 
time — now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 

On  this  mighty  interest — 'to  this  gracious  invitation — how 
careless  and  how  cold  are  those  to  whom  it  is  jjresented. 
Wlien  He  who  spake  as  never  man  spake,  uttered  these  very 
words,  it  was  then  as  it  is  noW' — they  heard,  but  they  heeded 
not.  Yet,  my  dear  friends,  if  you  would  hear  the  most  joy- 
ful sound  that  tongue  shall  ever  utter,  addressed  to  you — 
"come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father" — ^you  must  now  come  to 
Chkist,  and  take  his  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  him.  He 
alone  "is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life — and  no  man 
Cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  him."    And  with  this  ad- 


CHRISTMAS.  337 

ditional  claim  to  your  attention,  I  will  now  proceed  to  inform 
you  liow  you  are  to  come  to  him. 

To  come  to  Chkist,  in  Scripture  language,  means,  to  em- 
brace the  gospel,  to  make  profession  of  his  religion,  to  ac- 
cept of  him  as  your  Saviour,  and  to  obey  him  as  your  king. 
In  fulfilling  this  duty,  the  first  step  is  the  sacrament  of 
baptism,  as  the  seal  of  that  covenant  wherein  we  give  our- 
selves to  him,  and  receive  from  him  the  pledge  of  all  the 
blessings  he  hath  purchased  for  us.  And  so  strictly  is  this 
the  first  stej3  in  coming  to  Christ,  that  there  is  no  other  re- 
vealed mode  of  becoming  entitled  to  the  promises  of  God  in 
him.  For  thus  it  is  written — "He  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized shall  be  saved.  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spieit  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God" — and 
though  it  has  become  the  fashion  to  undervalue  the  ordi- 
nances of  Christ's  house,  and  to  speak  lightly  of  this  sacra- 
ment, yet  surely,  my  friends,  what  is  written  will  stand  fast, 
when  the  vain  reasonings  of  men  shall  be  as  chafl"  before  the 
storm. 

This  step,  all  present,  perhaps,  have  already  taken,  and  so 
far  have  come  to  Christ;  but  as  the  baptism  which  saves  "is 
not  the  washing  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer 
of  a  good  conscience  towards  God,"  in  the  fulfilment  of  the 
baptismal  engagement,  therefore,  as  all,  alas,  have  herein 
failed,  and  have  thereby  forfeited  the  promises  then  made 
over  to  them,  and  lost  the  privileges  then  conferred  upon 
them,  the  next  step  in  coming  to  Christ  is,  by  repentance 
and  obedience.  These  God  hath  been  graciously  pleased  to 
accept  from  the  penitent  sinner,  when  offered  in  the  name  of 
his  only  begotten  Son,  and  in  steadfast  reliance  on  his  merits, 
for  their  eflicacy.  Now  this  rej^entance  consists  in  such  a 
godly  sorrow  for  sin,  as  renders  it  hateful  and  burdensome, 
and  creates  a  hearty  and  earnest  desire  to  be  delivered  from 
its  power.  This  desire  is  manifested  by  prayer  to  God,  for 
pardon  and  deliverance,  and  by  departing  from  all  iniquity; 
and  the  fruit  of  true  repentance  is  conversion  of  the  heart  to 
God,  with  renewed  obedience,  and  confirmed  faith  in  his 
precious  promises  through  Christ.  Tlie  penitent  is  again 
received  into  favor,  the  IIoLy  Spirit  is  again  renewed  in 
Ilia  heart,  and  all  the  privilieges  of  his  baptism  restored., 
[VoL  1,— *22.] 


338  CHRISTMAS. 

To   this   repentance   sinners   are   continually   exliorted  by 
tlie  gospel;  witliout  this  repentance  tliey  are  assured  tliat 
they  shall  perish;  and  that  they  may  be  able  to  repent, 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  sent  down  into  the  world,  and  so  far 
present  in  every  baptized  person,  as  to  convince  them  of  sin; 
speaking  in  their  consciences,  and  bearing  witness  to  the 
truth  of  the  promises  and  threatenings  of  the  gospel.    These 
good  motions  of  the  Spmrr  of  God,  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  every 
impenitent  sinner  now  before  me  hath  again  and  again  ex- 
perienced.    Often  would  he  have  led  you  to  Christ,  my 
friends,  but  ye  would  not — often  has  his  witness  in  your 
hearts  almost  persuaded  you  to  be  Christians,  but  you  have 
stifled  his  saving  convictions,  and  put  oif  till  a  more  con- 
venient season,  the  one  thing  needful.     O,  let  not  the  con- 
victions of  this  day  be  added  to  the  number,  for  God  hath 
said,  ''my  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man."  Bat  now, 
even  as  you  are,  come  to  Christ;  yield  not  to  the  delusion 
that  you  are  not  good  enough  to  come  to  him — "he  came  to 
call  sinners  to  repentance."     If  therefore  you  are  a  sinner, 
and  sensible  of  it,  you  are  the  person  he  came  to  save,  and 
he  is  the  very  Saviour  you  need.     To  the  gracious  invitation 
of  my  text,  add  the  merciful  declaration,  "him  that  cometh 
unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out,"  and  let  sin,  and  unbelief, 
and  fear,  and  shame,  bow  down  before  the  mercy  seat,  sub- 
dued by  redeeming  love. 

"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

O  that  the  application  of  this  Scripture  may  be  made  to 
every  heart  by  the  spirit  of  God — that  this  joyful  Sabbatli 
may  have  rejoicing  witnesses  upon  earth,  and  responding 
hallelujahs  in  heaven. 

My  brethren,  it  is  the  voice  of  aifection,  of  deep  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  the  world  he  made  and  redeemed — O,  let 
it  be  met  with  that  fervor  of  faith  and  love  in  our  hearts 
which  shall  unite  us  still  closer  to  him  and  to  each  other.  In 
the  faith  of  his  promise  we  have  come  to  him,  and  should 
testily  of  his  truth  in  giving  us  rest,  and  peace,  through  the 
atonement  of  his  cross,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection. 
Tliis  witness  we  can  best  give,  my  dear  brethren  in  the  Lord, 
by  conforming  to  his  example,  and  obeying  his  commands. 


CHRISTMAS,  339 

His  last  command  is,  "love  one  another,"  In  this  then,  let 
us  strive  for  the  mastery,  "and  by  love  serve  one  another." 
The  last  act  of  his  blessed  life  was  an  act  of  love  in  praying 
for  his  murderers;  as  our  lives  then  draw  to  their  close,  let 
us  study  to  be  foimd  as  he  was,  in  peace  and  charity  with 
all  men. 

As  we  rejoice  over  his  birth,  and  bless  God  for  the  mercy 
and  love  herein  showed  to  om-  souls,  let  us  approach  the 
sacrament  of  his  death  with  hearts  the  more  deeply  pene- 
trated with  every  emotion  which  the  contemplation  of  this 
uns^Jeakable  gift  is  calculated  to  raise;  it  is  an  overwhelming 
subject,  my  brethi-en,  and  dehes  the  tongues  of  men  and 
angels  to  reach  its  worth. 

"Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends — but  God  commendeth  his  love  to- 
wards us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Chkist  died  for 
us;"  yet  the  heart  may  feel  what  the  tongue  cannot  express; 
and  he  who  looketh  on  the  heart  stands  ever  ready  to  accept 
the  offering  it  brings,  in  humble  love  and  hol}^  faith.  Let 
us  draw  near  them,  my  brethren,  with  true  hearts,  in  full 
assurance  of  faith,  that  if  when  we  were  enemies  we  were 
reconciled  to  God,  by  the  death  of  his  Son — much  more, 
being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life. 

is  ow  to  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  be  ascribed,  as  is  most  justly  due,  all  glory,  honor, 
and  praise,  now,  henceforth  and  for  ever.     Ameu. 


SERMOlSr  YIII, 


new-teak's  DAT. 


PsAXM  XXXI.  15.  (First  clause.) 
"My  times  are  in  thy  hand," 

Our  condition  in  the  present  life,  mj  brethi-en,  is  sncli, 
that,  if  considered  aright,  it  could  hardly  fail  to  produce  that 
seriousness  and  sobriety  of  mind  which  is  the  inlet  to  all  re- 
ligious impression.  However  we  may  try  to  hide  from  our- 
selves what  poor  dependent  creatures  we  are,  the  uncertain 
transitory  nature  of  temporal  things  is  exactly  calculated  to 
teach  the  salutary  lesson,  that  here  we  have  no  continuance, 
no  abiding  interest,  worth  that  exclusive  care  and  passionate 
eagerness  wherewith  so  many  pm-sue  the  world,  and  the  per- 
ishing jjortion  of  its  vain,  unsatisfying,  yet  ensnaring  delights. 
And  however  still  more  unwisely  we  may  turn  away  from 
the  counsel  and  warning  of  God's  revealed  word,  yet  certain 
it  is  that  no  where  else  can  we  find  comfort  and  relief  in 
times  of  trouble  and  disti-ess,  in  those  trying  moments  when 
the  world  betrays,  and  its  hope  deceives,  and  disappointment 
casts  down  the  tottering  fabric  we  had  built  up  on  the  sandy 
foundation  of  an  earthly  dependence.  Thus  is  it  ordered  by 
the  all-pervading  wisdom  of  God,  and  through  his  tender 
love  to  us  his  creatures,  that  the  frailty  and  weakness  of  our 
mortal  state,  the  disappointments  and  sorrows  of  the  present 
life,  the  insecurity  and  uncertainty  of  every  earthly  good, 
with  all  other  the  consequences  of  our  fallen  condition,  should 
be  present  and  sensible  arguments  to  direct  our  views  to  a 
better  hope,  our  trust  and  confidence  to  a  more  secure  and 
permanent  dependence,  than  the  promises  of  time,  the  delights 
of  sense,  or  the  glory  and  praise  of  this  world,  can  supply. 

To  produce  this  salutary  effect  upon  us,  many  considera- 
tions are  set  before  us,  both  by  the  light  of  nature,  and  in  the 
page  of  revelation;  but  none  of  more  weighty  application 
than  that  presented  in  the  words  of  the  text — "My  times  arc 


342  new-teak's  dat. 

in  thy  baud,"  A  sentiment,  my  friends,  deeply  expressiye 
of  a  devout  and  confiding  spirit,  of  a  submissive  and  bumble 
heart,  and  truly  descriptive  of  that  Christian  temper,  which 
has  learnt  to  trust  in  God,  believing  "that  all  things  shall 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  him." 

That  God  is,  and  that  he  is  the  rewarder  of  such  as  dili- 
gently seek  him,  is  the  first  foundation  of  all,  my  brethren, 
the  never  to  be  shaken  principle  on  which  all  religious  de- 
j^endence  must  be  built  up,  the  living  root,  from  which  branch 
out  in  beautifid  order,  the  faith  which  works  by  love,  the 
hope  that  maketh  not  ashamed,  the  charity  that  never  fail- 
eth.  Tliat  there  is  a  supreme  Being,  infinitely  good,  wise, 
and  powerful,  who  holds  in  his  hands  the  issues  of  life  and 
death,  who  directs  and  controls,  disposes,  and  overrules  events, 
both  for  general  and  particular  good,  is  the  only  solid  ground 
of  hope  and  comfort,  to  which  such  poor,  short-sighted,  frail 
and  transient  creatures  as  we  are,  can  resort,  either  for  relief 
in  present  distress,  or  defence  from  future  evil.  That  we  are 
not  given  over  to  the  guidance  of  our  own  misrule,  to  the 
anarchy  and  destruction  w^ch  our  own  evil  passions  would 
inevitably  produce,  is  such  a  proof  of  the  love  and  compas- 
sion of  our  heavenly  Father  towards  his  rebellious  children, 
as  should  draw  all  our  hearts  to  him  in  subjection  and  obe- 
dience, and  fill  our  soub  with  the  deepest  thankfulness,  that 
amid  the  sundry  and  manifold  changes  of  this  mortal  life, 
our  times  are  in  the  hands  of  Him,  who  is  infinite  in  wisdom 
and  power,  perfect  in  goodness  and  truth,  and  glorious  in 
majesty  and  holiness. 

In  discoursing  on  these  words  on  the  present  occasion,  I 
shall  use  them  chiefly  as  a  lesson  of  caution  and  admonition 
to  the  careless  and  inconsiderate,  and  of  comfort  and  support 
to  the  Christian;  with  an  application  of  the  whole  to  the  pre- 
sent season,  and  the  use  we  should  make  of  it. 

"My  times  are  in  thy  hand."  It  may  be  useful  to  premise 
that  by  the  word  "times"  as  here  applied,  we  are  to  under- 
stand, not  barely  the  limit  of  our  lives,  but  the  whole  state 
of  our  condition  in  the  world.  Tliis  is  evident  from  the  word 
being  in  the  plural  number.  Had  the  expression  been.  My 
time  is  in  thy  hand,  the  sentiment  would  have  been  confined 
properly  enough  to  the  imcertain  teniu-e  of  this  mortal  life. 


NEW- year's     DAT.  343 

But  being  in  the  plural  number,  "My  times  are  in  tliy  hand," 
it  comprehends  not  only  that,  but  also,  whatever  is  provi- 
dential in  the  whole  course  of  it. 

Tliis  view  of  the  subject  opens  a  wide  field  to  our  medita- 
tions, my  brethren,  and  must  increase  the  interest  we  all 
have,  in  deriving  from  it  such  instruction  as  may  profit  us, 
in  running  the  race  set  before  us. 

Now  nothing  can  be  more  conducive  to  this  end,  than  to 
be  rightly  informed  as  to  the  purpose  and  design  of  Almighty 
God  in  bringing  us  into  being  under  the  circumstances  in 
whicli  we  are  found;  because  our  duties,  generally  speaking, 
are  derived  from  our  condition,  and  always  proportioned  to 
the  means  and  opportunity  given.  AVhat  our  condition  in 
life  may  be,  and  what  the  extent  of  our  means — is  in  the 
hand  of  another  over  whom  we  have  no  control;  but  what 
use  we  shall  make  of  them,  is  altogether  in  the  disposal  of 
that  moral  agency,  that  freedom  of  will  and  choice,  which 
alone  constitutes  us  accountable  creatures,  and  capable  either 
of  reward  or  punishment. 

This  may  be  exemplified  in  various  ways.     "Wlien  we  shall 
be  born,  and  how  long  we  sliall  live,  are  certainly  not  in 
our  own  control.     But  to  what  we  shall  apply  life  when 
given,  and  time  when  bestowed  upon  us,  must  be  the  result 
of  some  choice  made  by  ourselves.     Again:  In  what  circum- 
stances we  shall  come  into  life,  whether  poor  or  rich,  bond 
or  free,  whether  with  a  bright  or  dull  capacity,  is  with  him 
in  wliose  hand  our  times  are;  but  the  consequences  to  us  de- 
pend not  on  the  condition  itself,  but  on  the  voluntary  im- 
provement or  abuse  we  make  of  it.     Once  more:  Whether 
we  shall  be  born  under  the  light  of  the  gospel,  or  the  dark- 
ness of  Heathen  superstition,  is  at  the  disposal  of  him  whose 
kingdom  ruleth  over  all;  but  whether  we  will  hear  the  joy- 
ful sound  and  embrace  its  saving  mercy,  or  turn  a  deaf  ear 
and  oppose  a  hard  heart  to  its  life-giving  truth,  depends  on 
ourselves.     Tliis  is  the  true  and  practical  distinction  which 
it  concerns  us  to  make,  my  hearers,  in  those  things  for  which 
we  are  accountable,  and  on  which  our  present  peace  and 
future  happiness  altogether  depend;  and  may  serve  to  show 
the  folly  and  fallacy  of  pushing  metaphysical  speculations 
beyond  what  is  plainly  revealed,  and  far  beyond  what  plain 


344  new-tf:ak's  day. 

minds  can  possibly  understand;  for  it  is  exactly  what  the 
apostle  condemns,  as  an  "intruding  into  things  not  seen, 
vainly  piifi'ed  np  by  a  fleshly  mind." 

Tlie  deepest  sense  of  God's  sovereign  disposal  of  all  events, 
the  fullest  acknowledgment  that  we  derive  every  power  and 
faculty,  every  motive  and  means  from  him,  so  that  literally, 
"without  him  we  can  do  nothing,"  is  in  no  shape  at  variance 
with  that  freedom  of  will  and  choice  which  alone  renders  us 
capable  of  religion;  of  which  freedom  (whatever  may  be  said 
to  the  contrary,)  we  are  perfectly  conscious,  whether  in  sin- 
ning or  refraining;  while  of  any  constraining  necessity,  dis- 
tinct from  moral  motive,  compelling  our  actions,  we  are  no 
more  conscious  than  of  what  never  had  a  being.     Therefore, 
"let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God; 
for  God  cannot  be  temj^ted  with  evil,  neither  tempteth  he 
any  man;  but  every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn  away 
of  his  OAvn  lust,  and  enticed.  Then  when  lust  hath  conceived, 
it  bringeth  forth  sin,  and  sin  when  it  is  finished  bringeth 
forth  death.     Do  not  err,  my  beloved  brethren,"  our  times 
are  indeed  in  the  hand  of  God — they  are  so  for  our  good' — • 
they  are  so,  as  nevertheless  to  be  compatible  with  the  freest 
choice  of  the  will,  the  deepest  engagement  of  the  heart  and 
affections,  of  reasonable  beings;  for  it  is  just  as  inconsistent 
with  the  holiness  of  God,  to  force  sinners  to  become  holy, 
that  they  may  be  happy  with  him  forever,  as  it  is  repugnant 
to  his  essential  goodness  to  compel  them  to  sin,  that  he  may 
damn  them  for  ever.     Far  different,  my  friends,  is  the  view 
which  God  himself  has  given  us,  of  his  love  to  lost  sinners, 
in  converting  the  condemnation  of  sin  into  the  reprieve  of 
mercy,  the  curse  of  the  law  into  the  blessing  of  the  gospel, 
the  trials  and  sufferings  of  time  into  the  glories  of  eternity, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Loed,  who,  "by  the  grace  of  God 
tasted  death  for  every  man,  that  he  might  redeem  us  to  God 
by  his  blood" — who  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and 
invites  even  the  chief  of  sinners  to  come  to  him  for  life  and 
salvation,  assuring  them,  that  he  will  in  no  wise  cast  out  him 
that  Cometh.     Thus  does  God  commend  his  love  to  us,  in 
that,  while  we  were  enemies,  Chkist  died  for  us;  how  much 
more  then  shall  we  be  saved  by  his  life.     And  thus  are  we 
cautioned  against  wresting  the  Scriptures  to  a  sense  and 


NEW-YEAE's    DAT.  345 

meaning,  which,  if  true,  leaves  to  poor  mortals  no  medium 
between  presumj3tion  and  despair. 

Another  lesson  of  caution,  growing  out  of  the  text,  is  de- 
rived from  the  circumstances  in  which  it  shows  us  we  are 
placed.  If  neither  the  limit  of  our  days,  nor  the  course  of 
events,  are  in  our  own  control,  then  is  the  reason  unanswer- 
ably strong,  for  care  and  diligence  in  the  employment  of 
what  we  do  possess,  because  we  can  never  know  how  soon  it 
may  be  taken  from  us.  And  this  is  evidently  the  purpose  of  Al- 
mighty God,  in  keeping  this,  with  some  other,  to  us  equally 
interesting  subjects,  locked  up  in  the  unrevealed  counsel  of 
his  own  will. 

On  no  one  point,  perhaps,  are  we  more  disposed  to  be  pre- 
sumptuous, my  friends,  than  in  the  disposal  of  time;  no  other 
possession  do  we  consider  so  securely  our  own;  of  no  other 
do  we  commit  such  cruel  and  inexcusable  waste.  We  know 
there  is  a  bound  to  human  life,  which  it  cannot  pass,  and 
within  that  limit  we  see  every  age  and  condition  swept  away 
by  the  hand  of  death.  We  all  profess  to  believe,  and  we  do 
believe  after  a  sort,  that  eternal  happiness  or  misery  waits 
upon  it;  and  yet  how  few  are  wise  enough,  "so  to  number 
their  days,  as  to  apply  their  hearts  unto  wisdom,"  while 
among  that  few  who  are  considered  to  be  thus  wise,  what 
remissness  in  redeeming  the  time,  what  coldness  in  religious 
duties,  what  conformity  to  the  world,  what  deadness  to  God. 
Alas,  my  Christian  brethren,  do  we  indeed  believe  that  our 
days  are  numbered,  that  an  unseen  hand  holds  the  thread  of 
our  life,  that  a  moment,  which  we  can  neither  stop  or  turn 
aside,  may  realize  to  us  the  unspeakable  certainties  of  death 
and  judgment,  and  yet  trifle  with  our  souls,  starving  them  on 
the  corrupted  manna  of  past  experiences,  grieving  the  Spikit 
of  grace,  and  wearying  the  patience  of  our  God?  O,  let  a 
new  year  witness  a  new  life.  "Forget  the  things  that  are  be- 
hind," except  to  increase  join  repentance,  and  double  your 
diligence  in  "reaching  forth  unto  the  things  which  are  be- 
fore, that  you  may  the  more  earnestly  press  toward  the  mark, 
for  the  prize  of  your  high  calling  of  God,  in  Christ  Jesl's." 
O,  that  those  of  mature  age,  who  have  hitherto  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  the  warnings  of  God,  both  in  his  word  and  by  his 
Spirit,  preferring  the  world  to  their  souls,  would  now  hear 


346  new-year's  day. 

the  voice  of  a  departed  year,  calling  to  them  to  number  Low 
many  are  gone  never  to  return,  how  few  are  left  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  nature,  and  to  consider  hov^  short  they  may  be 
cut  off,  in  the  wise  disposal  of  him  in  whose  hands  their  times 
are.     My  friends  who  stand  in  this  danger,  were  it  to  seize 
upon  you,  could  you  plead  want  of  time,  want  of  means, 
want  of  warning?     You  must  answer,  No.     What  then  could 
you  plead — the  mercy  of  God?     But  where  do  you  find  an 
offer  of  mercy  to  the  impenitent  sinner?     Be  not  deceived — 
wrath,  burning  wrath,  is  the  portion  of  his  cup.     But  the 
merits  of  Christ,  you  will  say — What!  the  merits  of  Christ 
pleaded  and  relied  upon  by  those  who  have  never  become 
his  disciples,  never  once  confessed  him  before  men,  who 
have  heard  him  preached  to  them  for  forty  years  perhaps, 
without  receiving  him  as  their  Saviour  and  their  God?     This 
will  never  do;  this  is  indeed  to  make  Christ  the  minister  of 
sin.     What  then  can  you  plead,  but  unbelief,  unwillingness 
to  receive  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  undue  engagement  with 
the  world,  or  at  best,  often  broken  resolutions  of  future 
amendment.     But  will  these  be  accepted;  are  such  the  re- 
turns whicli  a  gracious  God  expects  and  requires  for  the 
precious  gift  of  Jesus  Christ  to  die  for  our  sins,  to  puichase 
repentance  for  us,  and  make  us  heirs  of  eternal  life?     No,  in- 
deed; faith  in  Christ,  with  the  fruits  of  holiness,  is  the  only 
passport  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  Now  then,  while  it  is  called 
to-day,  while  your  sand  yet  runs,  put  away  from  you  these 
refuges  of  lies,  and  flee  to  the  cross  of  Christ;  take  the  Re- 
deemer's yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  him,  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  to  your  souls. 

And  O,  tljat  the  young  persons  who  now  hear  me  would 
hear  the  caution  my  text  gives,  and  remember  their  Creator 
in  the  days  of  their  youth,  before  their  aflTections  are  perverted 
and  their  feelings  hardened  by  the  deceitfulness  of  sin.  O, 
that  they  would  consider  him  in  whose  hand  their  times  are, 
and  early  put  themselves  under  his  fatherly  guidance;  laying 
the  only  safe  foundation  on  which  to  build  with  assurance, 
an  useful  and  happy  life,  a  blessed  death,  and  a  glorious  im- 
mortality. 

That  we  are  here  but  for  a  season,  brethren,  and  tliat  un- 
certain too,  shows  the  folly  of  so  setting  our  afliections  upon 


new-year's    DAT.  347 

temporal  things,  as  to  defeat  the  influence  of  those  which  are 
eternal  upon  our  lives.  That  on  this  limited  and  uncertain 
being  depends,  whether  we  shall  be  happy  or  miserable  for 
ever,  is  the  unanswerable  argument  for  seriousness  and  en- 
gageduess,  in  working  out  our  everlasting  salvation.  And 
that  our  time  and  means,  our  power  and  help  for  this  mighty 
work,  are  all  in  the  hand  of  another,  who  measures  out  his 
grace  in  proportion  to  our  improvement  of  it,  is  the  awaken- 
ing caution,  that  while  this  our  day  of  life  and  grace  lasts, 
we  should  give  all  diligence  to  make  our  calling  and  election 
sure.  O,  that  these  commanding  motives  may  sink  deep  into 
all  your  hearts,  and  the  blessing  of  Ijim  who  liath  the  remain- 
der of  the  spirit,  make  them  fruitful  in  you  to  newness  of  life. 

I  come  next  to  the  comfort  and  support  which  the  Chris- 
tian draws  from  the  doctrine  of  the  text.  I  confine  it  to  the 
Christian;  because,  though  the  providence  of  God  embraces 
all  creation,  causing  the  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sending  his  rain  upon  the  just  and  upon  the  unjust, 
so  that  not  even  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  hia 
notice  and  permission;  yet  it  is  to  him  only  who  hath  the 
Lord  for  his  God,  that  the  faith  expressed  in  the  words  of 
the  text,  is,  in  every  trial  and  trouble,  in  every  strait  and 
extremity  of  life,  like  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land. 

If  we  consider  the  present  life,  my  brethren,  without  refer- 
ence to  another,  we  find  it  compounded  of  joy  and  grief, 
enjoyment  and  sufi'ering,  of  hope  and  disappointment,  of 
trouble  and  trial  in  all  their  shapes,  of  failure  and  success  in 
every  variety — "so  that  the  race  is  not  to  tlie  swift,  nor  the 
battle  to  the  strong;  neither  yet  bread  to  the  wise,  nor  riches 
to  men  of  understanding;  nor  yet  favor  to  men  of  skill:  but 
time  and  chance  happeneth  to  them  all."  But  if  we  consider 
it  in  the  liglit  which  revelation  enables  us  to  use,  we  see  the 
same  ingredients  in  the  hand  of  a  master,  controlled  and 
applied  to  bring  good  out  of  evil,  holiness  out  of  sin,  happi- 
ness out  of  misery,  and  life  out  of  death.  In  this  complex 
and  unsearchable  mystery,  we  are  appointed  to  act  a  j)art, 
my  brethren,  and  are  furnished  and  instructed  for  all  that  is 
required  of  us;  for  the  rest,  we  are  commanded  to  depend 
upon  the  power  and  goodness  of  him,  who  seeth  the  end 


348  new-year's  day. 

from  the  beginning,  and  is  alone  competent  to  sustain  the 
weiglit,  and  direct  the  motions,  and  sway  the  sceptre,  of  the 
universe.  This  fundamental  truth,  made  still  clearer  by  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Chkist,  the  Christian  receives,  relies  and 
lives  upon.  He  sees  and  understands,  that  by  reason  of  sin, 
"man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  hath  but  a  short  time  to  live 
and  is  full  of  misery;  he  cometh  up  and  is  cut  down  like  a 
flower;  he  fleeth  also,  as  it  were  a  shadow,  and  never  con- 
tinueth  in  one  stay."  In  the  trials  and  suiferings  of  this  life, 
he  is  instructed  to  perceive  the  infinite  wisdom  of  God  at 
work,  to  purify  and  prove,  to  prepare  and  perfect  sinful 
mortals  for  another  and  better  life.  In  the  gift  of  his  only 
Son,  to  atone  for  the  guilt  of  the  world,  and  redeem  sinners 
from  eternal  death,  he  sees  the  unreserved  love  of  that  God 
who  is  not  willing  that  an}^  of  his  creatures  should  perish. 
And  in  the  daily  mercies  of  his  good  providence  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  perishing  bod}^,  he  is  taught  that  the  more  im- 
portant wants  of  his  soul  sliall  not  be  neglected.  Thus  does 
the  just  man  live  by  faith;  his  heart  is  fixed,  trusting  in  the 
Lord.  Founded  on  this  rock,  the  believer  is  prepared  to  run 
the  race  set  before  him  with  patience.  He  knows  that  he  is 
in  the  hand  of  him  whose  faithful  promise  is  recorded,  "that 
all  things  shall  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God;"  so  that  whether  his  lot  in  life  be  prosperous  or  adverse, 
it  is  the  good  hand  of  his  God  upon  him  for  good. 

Does  it  please  the  Almighty  to  put  his  secret  on  his 
tabernacle — setting  his  family  and  fortunes  in  a  flourishing 
state;  he  thankfully  acknowledges  the  giver  of  evei'y  good 
and  perfect  gift.  "Lord,  by  thy  favor,  thou  hast  made  my 
mountain  to  stand  strong.  Thou  anointest  my  head  with 
oil;  my  cup  ruimeth  over.  What  shall  I  render  unto  the 
Lord  for  all  his  benefits" — deeply  sensible  of  the  account  he 
must  give  for  them,  his  great  study  is  to  apply  them  to  the 
glory  of  the  Giver,  by  promoting  the  welfare  of  all  around 
him,  dealing  his  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  help  to  the  poor 
and  needy,  and  clothing  the  naked  with  a  garment.  "Laying 
up  a  good  foundation  against  the  time  to  come."  Making  a 
friend  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when  earthly 
mansions  fail,  as  they  must  do,  everlasting  habitations  may 
receive  him.     His  family,  raised  and  trained  up  in  the  fear 


itew-yeae's  day.  349 

of  the  LoED,  are  partners  with  him  in  all  his  labors  of  love, 
and  earl}'-  learn,  both  by  precept  and  example,  to  trust  in 
their  father's  God,  and  lay  up  treasure  in  heaven.  On  the 
other  hand,  does  infinite  wisdom  see  fit  to  prove  him  with 
adversity,  to  smite  at  the  root  the  gourd  of  his  creature  com- 
forts, and  cast  down  his  flourishing  prospects  to  the  ground, 
"It  is  the  LoKD,"  says  the  believer,  "let  him  do  what  seem- 
eth  him  good — shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God, 
and  shall  we  not  receive  evil?"  Blessed  be  his  holy  name 
for  breaking  the  snare  of  worldly  delights.  Does  the  fear  of 
want  for  himself  and  his  children  assault  him?  He  strens-th- 
ens  his  heart  against  the  temptation.  The  Loed  will  provide 
— "never  saw  I  the  righteous  forsaken,  or  his  seed  begging 
their  bread."  Is  a  domestic  calamity  added  to  poverty  and 
want,  in  taking  away  from  him  by  the  hand  of  death  the  dear 
partner  of  all  his  joys  and  sorrows,  or  the  child  of  his  aifec- 
tions  and  hopes — he  kisses  his  Father's  rod,  and  while  his 
heart  is  wrung  with  anguish,  exclaims — "The  Loed  gave  and 
the  Loed  hath  taken  away — blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Loed."  Do  friends  desert  him  and  join  with  his  enemies  to 
persecute  and  destroy  him;  he  looks  to  the  captain  of  his  sal- 
vation, who  was  made  perfect  through  sufierings,  and  glad 
to  be  counted  worthy  to  suffer  with  him;  he  commits  his 
cause  to  the  Loed — "my  times  are  in  thy  hand."  my  trust  is 
in  thee — "I  will  not  fear  what  man  can  do  unto  me — thou 
shalt  bring  forth  my  righteousness  as  the  light,  and  my  judg- 
ment as  the  noon  day."  Is  disease  commissioned  to  consume 
his  strength,  and  lay  him  on  the  bed  of  pain  and  languish- 
ing; the  power  of  faith  sustains  him,  and  "makes  all  his  bed 
in  his  sickness."  Does  death  draw  near,  attended  with  the 
anxious  thought,  that  a  dear  wife  and  beloved  children  will 
be  exposed  to  an  unfriendly  world;  even  in  this  extremity 
there  is  comfort  for  the  Christian — "Leave  thy  fatherless 
children,  I  will  preserve  them  alive,  and  let  thy  widow  trust 
in  me."  And  in  the  closing  scene  of  this  world's  tribulation, 
when  all  its  help  is  in  vain,  and  all  its  promises  prove  false 
— when  the  king  of  terrors  claims  his  devoted  victim — the 
believer  meets  him  to  triumph  over  him.  "For  we  know 
that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved, 
we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands 


350  new-year's  day. 

— eternal  in  the  heavens.  0  death,  wliere  is  thj  sting — 0 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory."  Thus,  through  the  trials  of 
life,  and  in  the  hour  of  death,  does  the  firm  persuasion  that 
his  times  are  in  the  hand  of  Almighty  goodness,  power,  and 
wisdom,  arm  the  believer  to  endure,  as  seeing  him  who  is 
invisible.  And  thus  do  "the  light  afflictions  of  this  mortal 
life,  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  work  for"  the  Christian, 
my  brethren,  "a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory — while  he  looks  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but 
at  the  things  which  are  not  seen;  for  the  things  which  are  seen 
are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

But  not  only  in  outward  trials  from  the  world,  but  in  those 
which  are  inward  and  spiritual,  does  the  power  of  faith  give 
liini  the  victory. 

His  grand  enemy,  the  believer  knows,  is  vanquished  and 
held  in  a  chain  by  the  captain  of  his  salvation,  without  leave 
from  whom  lie  cannot  assault  him;  further  than  he  permits, 
lie  cannot  tempt  him.  For  the  trial  of  faith,  and  to  prove 
obedience,  the  spiritual  enemy  hath  a  little  space  given  him. 
But  in  every  conflict,  the  faithful  promise,  that  "Gtod  will 
not  suffer  him  to  be  tempted  above  what  he  is  able  to  bear, 
but  will,  with  the  temptation,  also  make  a  way  for  his 
escape,"  encourages  the  Christian  to  light  manfully,  as  a 
good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  With  the  shield  of  faith  he 
quenches  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked — with  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  he  cuts  up  the  artful  deceits  of  Satan  trans- 
formed into  an  angel  of  light — with  the  hope  of  salvation  for 
a  helmet,  he  resists  even  unto  blood,  should  he  thereto  be 
called,  and  having  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God,  he  is  able 
to  stand  in  the  evil  day.  But  should  the  trial  be  sore,  and 
the  heart  and  the  flesh  failing,  his  Lord's  voice — "My  grace 
is  sufficient  for  thee,  let  no  one  take  thy  crown" — renews  his 
spiritual  strength  and  gives  him  the  victory.  Yea,  even 
though  the  enemy  prevail  against  him — for  where  is  the  man 
that  liveth  and  sinneth  not — the  Christian  does  not  yield 
himself  a  captive.  He  falls  fighting,  and  with  this  word  of 
faith  in  his  mouth — "Rejoice  not  over  me,  O  mine  enemy. 
When  I  fall  I  shall  rise  again.  When  I  sit  in  darkness,  the 
Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto  me."  In  deep  repentance  he 
humbles  himself  before  God — in  earnest  prayer  he  implores 


new-year's    DAT.  351 

through  Jesus  Christ  the  pardon  of  his  guilt  and  unbelief- 
with  groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered  he  waits  until  the  Lord 
liave  mercy  upon  liim-learning  from  every  failure  to  dis- 
trust himself  more  and  more-to  lean  upon  the  arm  of  the 
Lord  more  unreservedly,  and  to  feel  and  saj  with  the  apos- 
tle, ''when  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong." 

Thus  may  we  draw  from  the  doctHne  of  the  text,  my 
brethren,  the  strong  consolation  which  the  promised  help 
and  lavor  of  God  should  bring  to  our  souls.  Our  times  be 
mg  m  his  hand,  nothing  can  harm  us  without  his  leave:  with 
hini  the  very  hairs  of  our  head  are  all  numbered;  and  greater 
IS  he  that  IS  for  us  than  he  that  is  against  us.  But  where 
shall  we  find  the  Christians  who  thus  live  by  faith?  Alas? 
"when  the  son  of  man  cometh  shall  he  find  faith  upon  the 
earth?  Nevertheless,  my  brethren,  it  is  God's  gift  to  us  if 
we  would  only  exercise  it.  "Unto  you  it  is  given  to  believe  " 
Let  us  then  arise  and  shake  ourselves  from  the  dust  of  worldly 
cares,  from  the  snare  of  its  vain  delights,  and  in  the  holy 
comiort  of  his  protection  and  disposal  of  us,  in  the  blessed 
nope  ot  his  mercy  through  Jesus  Christ,  let  us  renew  our 
trust  m  his  power  and  goodness;  our  obedience  to  his  most 
holy  law;  our  submission  to  his  most  righteous  government 
tliat  m  newness  of  life  we  may  henceforth  walk  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight. 

_  Li  the  application  of  this  subject  I  trust  that  you  all  an- 
ticipate  me,  my  hearers,  and  each  for  himself  feels  the  bear- 
ing of  the  subject  upon  the  present  season,  and  the  meditations 
1  supplies.  I  trust  also  that  some  of  you  are  resolved  by 
the  grace  of  God,  to  consider  well  the  importance  of  time- 
that  It  IS  the  great  inclusive  talent,  upon  which  the  value  of  all 
the  rest  depend;  that  it  is  the  day  of  grace  to  us  sinners;  yea 
uiore,  that  it  is  the  prelude  to  eternity,  for  on  time  well  or 
.11  employed  depends  the  everlasting  happiness  or  misery  of 
each  one  of  us. 

Through  the  sparing  mercy  of  our  God,  we  are  permitted, 
my  brethren  and  friends,  to  see  another  year;  but  it  is  beyond 
any  reasonable  calculation  that  we  shall  all  see  the  end  of  it 
borne  must  go,  but  whether  you  or  me,  who  can  telH  Hope 
may  flatter,  and  presumption  may  be  confident;  but  both 
may  be  deceived.     Our  times  are  in  the  hand  of  another,  and 


352  new-tear's  day. 

none  can  lift  the  veil,  which  hides  either  his  own,  or  the 
time  of  another's  departure.  And  why  should  we  wish  to 
know  it?  The  event  itself  is  the  only  certainty  we  are  pos- 
sessed of,  though  the  time  be  hid  from  us;  and  to  know  this, 
is  all  that  can  be  useful  to  any  reasonable  being,  because  it 
presents  motive  sufficiently  powerful  to  urge  to  the  most  dili- 
gent application,  without  repressing  exertion  or  encouraging 
delay,  one  or  other  of  which  would  be  the  certain  consequence 
of  more  knowledge  on  the  subject. 

To  know  that  our  days  are  numbered,  that  the  noiseless 
flood  of  time  is  sweeping  us  along  with  it  into  the  boundless 
ocean  of  eternity,  is  a  startling  thought.  But  alas!  how  few 
entertain  it,  or  count  its  worth  with  the  risk  of  its  uncertainty, 
except  for  some  purpose  of  worldly  advantage.  How  few 
consider  that  time  is  a  witness,  the  faithful  unimpeachable 
witness  of  heaven.  Days  and  months  and  years  pass  away, 
unheeded  perhaps,  yet  loaded  with  the  record  of  actions,  un- 
noticed perhaps,  yet  irrevocable — until  they  shall  once  more 
appear  for  or  against  us  at  the  bar  of  God.  "We  may  waste 
them  in  folly,  or  bury  them  in  thoughtlessness  and  levity, 
but  together  with  our  dead  bodies  shall  they  arise,  and  bring 
with  them  the  color  they  now  receive  from  our  lives. 

Were  this  considered  in  its  true  light,  my  brethren,  we 
should  not  see  such  numbers  of  our  fellow  creatures,  possessed 
of  reasonable  minds,  and  favored  with  the  light  of  the  gospel, 
so  entirely  taken  up  with  business  and  pleasure,  that  the 
great  business  of  being  saved,  the  lasting  pleasure  of  being 
in  favor  with  God,  is  but  little  thought  of,  if  not  neglected  al- 
together.    We  should  not  see  so  many  young  people  growing 
up  around  us,  trained  only  for  the  part  they  are  to  act  here 
for  a  little  while,  leaving  the  one  thing  needful  wholly  un- 
provided for.    Perhaps  the  decay  of  religion,  the  loss  of  that 
lively  impression  which  its  vital  power  communicates  to  the 
soul,  is  in  nothing  more  marked,  than  in  the  neglect  mani- 
fested even  by  professing  parents,  for  the  religious  education 
of  their  children.    As  Christians  they  should  know,  that  the 
world  is  a  great  pitfall  for  their  children's  souls,  of  which  it 
is  their  prime  duty  to  warn  them;  the  insidious  enemy,  against 
whose  deceitful  blandishments  it  should  be  their  chief  care  to 
arm  them.    Experience  must  have  shown  them  the  uncer- 


i 


NEW-YEAIi's    DAY.  353 

taiiitv  and  insecurity  of  the  fairest  and  most  flattering  wordlj 
dependence,  while  the  religion  tliej  profess  must  have  taught 
them  that  there  is  but  one  antidote  against  the  poison  of 
worldly  love;  one  strait  and  narrow  way  to  pass  through  the 
snares  spread  out,  though  concealed,  under  its  alluring  but 
destructive  pleasures;  one  shield  against  its  enmity;  one  com- 
fort under  its  tribulation;  one  refuge  from  the  storm  and 
tempest  of  its  destruction.  And  can  those  parents  be  really 
sincere  in  a  profession  of  religi<»n,  who  sufter  any  considera- 
tions of  custom  or  advantage  or  expediency,  to  interfere  with 
their  first  and  earliest  duty,  in  pre-occupying  the  hearta  of 
their  children  with  the  serious  things  of  God  and  religion? 
Can  they  remember  their  solemn  baptismal  covenant,  re- 
nouncing for  them  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked 
world,  when  the  whole  course  of  modern  education,  especially 
for  females,  serves  only  to  foster  and  increase  those  evil 
natural  propensities  in  them?  O  unthinking  parents,  take 
these  truths  home  with  jou,  and  consider  how  little  it  will 
profit  you  and  them,  that  they  should  glitter  and  shine  here 
for  a  little  while,  and  then  drop  into  the  darkness  of  ever- 
lastino;  night. 

Surely  these  are  weighty  and  unanswerable  arguments  to 
induce  parents,  and  those  who  have  the  care  of  youth,  to  stop 
short  in  the  present  unprofitable  and  ruinous  course.  Surely 
also  they  should  be  equally  powerful  to  induce  the  careless 
and  thoughtless  to  pause  a  moment  in  the  race  of  vanity,  and 
count  the  cost  of  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  warnings  and  in- 
vitations of  the  gospel,  to  the  reason  and  conscience  of  their 
own  hearts,  to  the  dearest  interests  of  their  immortal  souls, 
all  suspended  on  the  time  now  given  to  prepare  for  eternity, 
perhaps  on  the  present  year.  O  that  they  would  but  count 
up  how  many  years  are  gone,  loaded  with  sin  and  guilt,  how 
i'ew  may  remain  to  perfect  that  repentance,  and  attain  that 
holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lokd.  Gracious 
God,  impress  upon  all  our  hearts,  the  solemn  but  neglected 
truth,  that  our  limit  is  fixed,  our  sand  is  running,  and  b}"  a 
decree  which  we  cannot  reverse,  the  hour  is  numbered  M'hen 
to  each  one  of  us  time  shall  be  no  more.  O  that  it  would 
please  thee  to  strengthen  the  hearts  of  thy  people  to  be  fol- 
lowers of  God  as  dear  children,  walking  in  love,  and  living 
[Vol.  1,— *23.J 


354  netv-yeak's    day. 

by  faith;  that  their  light  may  shine  to  the  glory  of  thy  name, 
and  thy  work  revive  among  us  to  the  increase  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion.  And  O  tliat  it  may  be  given  to  the  dis- 
sipated and  thoughtless,  to  the  careless  and  negligent,  to  the 
lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God,  to  discern  this 
time,  to  see  in  the  flight  of  another  year  how  much  is  taken 
away  from  the  short  and  uncertain  period  on  which  eternity 
depends.  O  that  they  may  consider  how  many  of  their 
precious  years  have  fled  away  from  them,  never  to  return; 
that  in  the  patience  and  forbearance  of  God  hitherto,  they 
may  see  that  goodness  which  should  lead  them  to  repentance; 
that  in  the  mercy  which  hath  brought  them  to  the  promise 
of  another  year,  they  may  learn  the  comfortable  truth  that 
God  hath  not  appointed  them  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salva- 
tion through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  O  that  they  may  con- 
sider the  time  past  of  their  life  more  than  sufficint  to  have 
wrought  the  will  of  the  flesh,  and  this  day  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God,  calling  to  them  by  the  gospel — "Awake  thou 
that  sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give 
thee  light." 


SERMON  12s: 


NEW-YEAB  3   DAY.'' 


Hebrews  i.  12.     (Last  clause.) 
"But  thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall  not  fail.'' 

Of  whom  speaketh  tlie  propliet  this?  we  may  ask,  my 
brethren,  as  did  the  pious  Ethiopian,  when  sitting  in  his 
chariot  he  read  the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah.  For  sm*ely 
the  description  of  a  being,  wliose  properties  thus  transcend 
our  experience,  and  in  this  attribute  of  unchangeableness,  or 
independence  of  time,  soars  beyond  the  hmit  of  created  things, 
and  remains  unaffected  by  that  which  is  silently,  but  surely 
bringing  to  an  end,  as  well  that  which  is  seen,  as  that  which 
perceiyes;  must  be  calculated  to  awaken  in  our  hearts  a  feel- 
ing of  awe  and  reyerence,  and  leads  to  such  contemplations 
of  his  eternal  power  and  godhead,  as  shall  become  the  fore- 
runners of  that  fear  of  him  which  is  the  t)eo:inninD-  of  wisdom. 
To  this,  indeed,  eyery  thing  we  see,  should  lead  us,  my  hearers, 
for  it  is  the  lowest  result  of  reason  to  conclude,  that  creation, 
must  haye  a  creator,  and  the  most  noble  exercise  of  the  facul- 
ties conferred  on  us,  to  trayel  through  the  works  to  the  work 
master,  and  "as  the  heayens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  firmament  showeth  his  handy  work"--— to  make  them  praise 
him  too,  through  that  fayored  creature  to  whom  it  is  giyen 
thus  to  adore  creation's  Loed  and  man's  Kedeemer.  O  that 
this  reasonable  seryice  had  more  of  reason's  sons  and  daughters 
under  its  influence — that  the  foundation  beinsr  laid  in  the 
consideration,  knowledge,  and  fear  of  God,  the  superstructure 
might  grow  up  unto  an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord. 

*  The  following  is  inserted  upon  the  authority  of  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Green: 
"This  was  the  last  sermon  preached  by  Bp.  R.  It  was  delivered  on  the 
1st  January,  1830,  in  Christ  Church,  Raleigh.  Being  too  feeble  to  ascend 
the  Pulpit,  or  even  to  stand  upon  his  feet,  he  read  it,  seated  in  the  Chancel, 
over  the  very  spot  where  his  remains  werCj  at  his  own  request,  interred  a 
little  more  than  two  months  after." 


356  new-yeak's   day. 

In  the  transition  from  sucli  a  glorious  and  nncliangeaLIe 
Being,  to  ourselves,  how  vast  the  distance,  how  infinite  the 
ditterence,  my  brethren,  and  yet  it  is  but  a  single  step  for 
the  mind  to  take,  so  wonderfully  are  we  constituted  for  our 
own  good  and  his  glory.  In  this  transition,  however,  is  con- 
tained the  speaking  application  of  that  solemn  lesson  which 
our  vanishing  lives  present  in  the  close  of  every  day,  and 
more  impressively  in  the  termination  of  another  of  those  few 
and  fleeting  years,  which  bound  our  earthly  pilgrimage. 
And  in  the  contrast  between  Him  who  is  ever  the  same,  and 
whose  years  shall  not  fail,  and  beings  who  are  daily  drawing 
to  their  end,  we  might  learn,  my  friends,  "so  to  number  our 
days  as  to  apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom."  Alas!  that  so 
few  permit  these  first  lines  as  it  w^ere,  in  religion,  to  occupy 
their  thoughts.  Alasl  that  such  multitudes  see  nothing  in 
the  silent  flight  of  time  but  the  fulfilment  or  disappointment 
■  )f  the  little  hope  that  is  bouneled  by  this  world,  and  who 
turn  away  with  disgust  from  the  awakening  truth,  that  every 
hour  of  life  is  but  a  step  towards  the  grave,  and  every  year 
of  time  a  more  rapid  flight  towards  the  boundless  ocean  of 
eternity.  Yet  so  it  is,  my  brethren  and  friends,  we  meet 
this  morning  a  year  i*earer  to  the  close  of  all  our  worldly  ex- 
pectations, a  year  nearer  to  all  that  we  hope  or  fear  in  the 
world  to  come.  The  thoughtless^  impenitent  sinner — nearer 
by  a  whole  year  to  the  gnawings  of  the  worm  which  never 
dies,  to  the  torments  of  the  tire  that  never  shall  be  quenched. 
The  believing  Christian,  by  the  same  period  nearer  to  that 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  which  awaits  the  righteous, 
Methinks  our  very  countenances  should  show  something  uf 
our  respective  feelings  and  states,  on  so  tremendous  a  con- 
sideration. But  alas!  custom  and  habit  have  so  strengthened 
the  original  delusion — •'■'Thou  shalt  not  surely  die," — that 
both  saint  and  sinner  have  learnt  to  escape  from  the  solemn 
warning  which  the  flight  of  time  conveys  alike  to  all.  But 
if  there  is  truth  Avitli  him  who  is  set  fortk  in  my  text  as  un- 
changeable, all  these  consequences,  and  many  more  of  great 
importance  to  us,  flow  from  the  simple  fact  that  we  are  all 
so  much  nearer  to  the  account  we  have  to  give  in  to  IIim» 
as  a  year  is  greater  than  a  day,  and  of  com-se  so  much  nearer 
to  happiness  or  misery  eternal,.    Now,  my  dear  hearers,  let 


new-year's    DAT.  357 

me  risk  jou  with  all  the  aifectionate  earnestness  of  one  truly 
desirous  of  your  highest  good,  what  advantage  can  there  be 
in  smothering  up  the  awakenings  which  so  plain  a  statement 
of  your  actual  condition  must  occasion  in  your  hearts?  Will 
ruin  be  any  thing  else  than  ruin,  because  it  comes  upon  you 
by  surj)rise  and  unprovided  i'oii  Or  will  it  not  double  de- 
struction, if  I  may  so  speak,  to  look  back,  and  see  how  often 
and  how  easily  this  destruction  might  have  been  escaped — 
with  how  much  long-suflering  and  forbearance,  God  waited 
and  warned — and  with  what  carelessness  and  obstinacy  you 
disregarded  and  resisted  the  counsels  of  his  love?  Let  me 
then  entreat  you  to  make  a  better  use  of  this  renewed  proof 
of  God's  patience.  And  while  we  congratulate  each  other 
on  being  yet  left  in  reach  of  the  means  of  grace,  let  me  ex- 
liort  you  to  go  along  with  me  in  those  meditations  which  flow 
from  the  text,  and  from  the  time,  from  the  unchangeable 
nature  of  God,  and  the  short,  and  withal,  most  uncertain  con- 
dition of  man's  present  life. 

"But  thou  art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall  not  fail." 
There  is  a  sublimity,  my  brethren,  in  the  wliole  passage,  and 
a  bearing  upon  my  present  purpose,  which  inclines  me  to 
read  it  to  you:  "And  thon,  Lokd,  in  the  beginning,  hast  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  work 
of  thine  hands.  They  shall  perish,  but  thou  remainest;  and 
they  all  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment,  and  as  a  vesture 
shalt  thou  fold  them  np,  and  they  shall  be  changed,  but  thou 
art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall  not  fail."  In  this  most  de- 
vout and  impressive  address  of  the  apostle,  we  learn  from 
tlie  context,  that  the  person  to  whom  it  was  oflered  up,  was 
the  Lokd  Jesus  Christ,  and  we  feel,  beyond  the  reach  of 
cavil,  that  it  is  such  an  acknowledgment  of  his  essential  di- 
vinity, as  causes  that  doctrine,  and  the  divine  inspiration  and 
autliority  of  the  Scriptures,  to  stand  or  tall  together. 

The  consideration  of  the  unchangeableness  of  Almighty 
God,  not  only  in  his  nature  and  essence,  but  in  the  appoint- 
ments and  administration  of  his  government  of  the  world,  is 
the  only  foundation  on  which  faith  can  be  exercised.  A  be- 
ing who  was  either  tickle  in  purpose,  or  weak  or  limited  in 
power,  could  in  no  sense  be  the  object  of  such  trust  and  con- 
iidence  as  is  always  implied  in  the  Scripture  notion  of  faith. 


358  new-year's   day. 

Hence  tlie  vital  importance  of  tlie  divinity  of  Christ  to  tlie 
faith  of  his  followers,  and  the  deadly  hostility  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  man,  and  the  damnable  guilt  of  those  who,  on  any 
pretence,  endeavor  to  shake  it;  for  it  is  most  evident  to  who- 
ever reads  the  Scriptures  with  attention,  that  the  hope  of  the 
Christian  is  so  built  on  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  propitiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  whole  world — so  limited  on  his  power  to  save — 
BO  dependent  on  his  grace  to  sanctify — that  if  he  is  not  iniinite 
in  his  nature,  omnipotent  and  omnipresent,  he  cannot  meet 
the  requirements  of  faith — he  cannot  be  an  object  of  lawful 
worship) — he  cannot  be  present,  and  privy  to  the  hearts  of  all 
his  worshippei-s,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  this  day;  nor  can 
their  hope  of  eternal  life  in  him  be  sure  and  steadfast,  if  that 
life  be  not  in  himself,  by  inherent  divinity.  With  admira- 
ble propriety,  therefore,  (if  indeed  we  ought  to  use  such  a 
phrase  of  an  inspired  man,)  with  admirable  propriety  does 
St.  Paul  preface  his  argument  to  his  Hebrew  brethren,  for 
the  superiority  of  the  gospel  over  the  legal  dispensation,  with 
the  assertion  of  the  divinity  of  its  author;  and  this  not  for- 
mally, but  incidentally,  as  it  were,  and  in  a  strain  of  the  most 
sublime  devotional  feeling  of  which  we  have  any  example; 
and  thus  it  is  with  every  devout  Christian  in  the  manifesta- 
tion of  his  Saviour.  He  is  able  to  say  with  St.  Tliomas,  "My 
Lord  and  my  God,"  and  with  unshaken  contidence  to  depend 
on  the  power  and  faithfulness  of  him  whose  love  for  his  soul 
overcame  the  iniinite  distance  between  the  Creator  and  crea- 
ture, and  brought  him  from  heaven  to  earth  to  die  for  his 
salvation.  It  is  this  alone,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  which 
gives  to  Christianity  the  sublime  character  which  belongs  to 
it.  Deprive  it  of  the  divinity  of  its  author,  and  yon  dive&t 
it  of  its  spirit,  and  of  its  power;  and  you  cast  a  veil  over  the 
glory,  and  beauty,  and  efficacy  of  God,  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacriiice  of  himself;  and  you  send  tlie 
gospel  forth  into  the  world,  like  Samson  shorn  of  his  strength, 
to  make  sport  for  the  sons  and  daughters  of  unbelief  and  un- 
godliness. This  is  a  cardinal  point,  my  brethren,  in  the  faith 
we  profess;  but  I  fear  is  too  often  taken  for  granted  without 
being  considered  and  dwelt  upon,  and  carried  out  to  all  the 
invigorating,  heart-cheering  consequences  which  flow  from 
it,  not  only  to  the  furtherance  of  the  power  of  godliness  in 


new-year's    DAT.  359 

our  lives,   but  as  a  strong  tower  of  defence,  against  the 
atflictions  and  sufferings  whieli  belong  to  the  present  life. 

Having  thus  noticed,  though  in  a  cursory  manner,  what 
forms  so  very  prominent  a  part  of  my  text,  I  come  now  to 
those  considerations  which  grow  out  of  the  contrast  between 
the  unchangeable,  everlasting  being  of  God,  and  tlie  fleeting, 
transitory  existence  of  man. 

FmsT,  no  circumstance,  it  appears  to  me,  is  better  calcu- 
lated to  invest  the  mind  of  man  with  a  just  sense  of  his  con- 
dition as  a  mortal  creature.  Of  this,  it  may  be  thought  we 
stand  in  need  of  no  better  monitor  than  the  daily  Maste  of 
human  life,  than  the  dropping  into  the  grave,  one  after 
another,  of  our  friends  and  neighbors;  but  experience  tells 
us,  that  when  we  measure  ourselves  with  others,  we  always 
strike  the  balance  in  our  own  favor,  and  in  nothing  is  it  more 
strikingly  exemplified  than  in  the  case  of  our  common  mor- 
tality. There  is  no  escape  from  the  fact  that  all  are  appoint- 
ed to  die,  and  while  we  can  see,  and  express,  clearly  enough, 
the  effect  which  this  unalterable  destiny  should  have  upon 
others,  we  contrive,  pretty  generally,  to  elude  it  as  respects 
ourselves;  in  other  words,  we  do  not  permit  it  to  bear  upon 
our  individual  connexion  with  the  common  fate,  but  think 
and  act  as  if  we  were  of  a  different  race  of  beings;  for  re- 
member, my  friends,  to  admit  a  fact,  is  neither  to  believe  or 
to  apply  it,  and  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  general  admission  is 
quite  consistent  with  practical  denial. 

!N^ow  of  this,  cannot  I  draw  a  proof  from  the  consciences  of 
all  present?  I  think  I  can,  in  this  way.  Another  year  of  the 
limited  being  of  young  and  old,  is  gone  for  ever;  eternity, 
therefore,  is  so  much  nearer  to  each — ^but  has  this  been  the 
thought  which  tlie  fact  has  presented  to  us;  has  this  been  the 
solemn  certainty  which  has  dwelt  upon  our  minds,  and  led 
us  to  count  the  cost  at  which  such  weighty  portions  of  our 
time,  as  years,  are  lightly  esteemed?  Have  the  careless  and 
thoughtless  heard,  in  the  departure  of  another  year,  the 
funeral  knell,  as  it  were,  of  their  day  of  grace?  Have  they 
realized  the  awakening  summons  of  time,  as  it  passes  on  into 
eternity,  that  they  must  shortly  follow?  But  why  do  1  ask 
the  question?  To  the  careless  and  the  thoughtless  there  is  no 
eternity,  as  yet,   realized — they  have  never  raised  their 


360  new-year's  day. 

thoughts  to  that  imchangeable  Being  who  sits  upon  tlie  circle 
of  the  heavens,  and,  himself  unaffected  by  time,  beholds  its 
mighty  flood  rolling  them,  and  all  sublunary  things,  onward 
to  the  consummation  of  his  righteous  judgment  on  their  im- 
provement or  abuse  of  his  wondrous  love  and  undeserved 
mercy:  yet  by  God's  blessing  it  may  startle  them,  and  lead 
to  reflection^  and  thus  be  a  proof  from  their  consciences,  of 
the  danger  of  resting  in  the  mere  knowledge  or  admission  of 
religious  truths. 

Have  the  followers  of  the  world  heard  the  voice  of  the  de- 
parted year,  calling  upon  them  to  consider  what  agreement 
their  pursuits  and  their  pleasures  have  with  that  unseen  world 
to  which  they  are  so  fast  hastening?  Alas,  time  is  estimated 
by  them,  only  as  it  accelerates  or  retards  the  gain  or  the  en- 
joyment of  earthly  things;  it  is  the  profit  or  loss  of  their  es- 
tates, and  not  of  their  souls,  by  which  they  measure  the  flight 
of  time,  and  calculate  the  improvement  of  it.  Yet  ask  them, 
and  they  admit  that  they  are  to  die — but  it  is  yet  a  gi-eat  way 
off;  ask  them,  and  none  can  better  tell  you  how  hard  it  is  to 
overtake  a  lost  year,  in  worldly  matters,  and  therefore,  they 
are  the  better  able  to  estimate  how  hard,  and  almost  impos- 
sible it  must  be,  to  undo  a  course  of  sin,  and  tread  back  the 
path  of  folly,  and  overtake,  not  a  year  only,  but  years,  of 
grace  and  waiting  mercy,  gone,  never  to  return,  until  they 
appear  as  witnesses  against  them,  at  the  bar  of  God;  and  thus 
do  their  consciences  also,  speak  the  same  language,  and  give 
them  a  lesson  of  wisdom,  which  I  pray  God  they  may  hear. 

Have  the  aged,  on  whose  heads  the  hand  of  time  has  shed 
the  garb  of  winter,  heard  this,  jierhaps  last,  messenger  of 
God's  mercy,  calling  to  them  in  his  flight,  "set  thine  house 
in  order,  for  this  year  thou  shalt  die?"  Alas,  my  hearers, 
that  even  with  such,  the  summons  should  be  disregarded;  for 
what  more  common  in  this  Christian  land,  than  old  age  and 
impiety;  than  carelessness  and  unconcern  imder  the  warnings 
of  even  seventy  years,  and  than  consciences  satisfied  with 
admission,  but  dead  to  consequences — dead  to  improvement? 
"What  can  it  lead  to,  my  friends,  but  that  second  death  whicli 
shall  never  die? 

Have  Christians,  whether  old  or  young,  opened  their  ears 
and  their  hearts  to  the  passing  warning  of  that  silent  monitor, 


new-year's   day.  361 

wlio  is  gone  to  report  tliem  to  their  Lord?  Has  the  season 
been  a  time  of  review,  of  recollection,  of  repentance,  of 
prayer,  of  thankfulness,  of  renewed  dedication  to  God?  Has 
it  been  a  season  of  spiritual  refreshment  and  holy  comfort  in 
God's  continued  favor?  Or  have  the  common  forms  of  Chris- 
tian profession,  seen  only  in  the  world,  hid  from  them  that 
all-seeing  eye,  who  searches  the  reins  and  the  heart?  Alas, 
my  brethren,  must  our  consciences  also  witness  to  this  gen- 
eral neglect  of  so  plain  and  pointed  a  monitor?  Shall  our 
salvation,  which  is  now  surely  nearer  than  when  we  first  be- 
lieved, stir  up  no  feeling  of  earnestness,  anxiousness,  I  had 
almost  said  impatience,  to  reap  so  great  reward?  no  sense  of 
past  mercies,  no  faith  and  Iwpe  of  future  goodness,  and  send 
us  forth  to  another  year  of  duty  and  trial,  more  engaged  to 
do  the  will  of  our  heavenly  Father,  and  adorn  the  doctrine 
of  God  our  Savioui*?  O  let  not  the  spirit  of  the  world  quench 
and  grieve  the  spirit  of  God,  nor  any  of  his  mercies  or  warn- 
ings pass  without  acknowledgment  and  improvement.  Re- 
member that  he  who  is  unchangeable,  hath  said,  "Unto  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundance; 
but  from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even  that 
which  he  hath."  And  that  this  is  spoken,  primarily,  of  im- 
provement, and  can  have  no  other  practical  meaning,  let  the 
honest  witness  within  you,  at  this  serious  moment,  be  attended 
to,  whether  for  encouragement  or  reproof,  that  the  fruit  may 
be  peace,  and  the  eflect  of  peace  quietness  and  assurance 
forever. 

Tliere  is  however  one  more  circumstance,  growing  out  of 
the  consideration  of  our  connection  with  time,  which  must 
not  be  omitted,  and  that  is  its  uncertainty — a  consideration 
which  is  confined  to  no  particular  description  of  persons,  but 
bears  alike  upon  all,  whether  believers  or  unbelievers,  whe- 
ther worldlings  or  Christians,  whether  young  or  old. 

By  this  appointment  of  heaven's  wisdom  and  mercy  in  the 
grant  of  time  to  creatures  on  trial,  all  the  arguments  and  ex- 
hortations to  diligence  drawn  from  a  limited  duration,  are 
infinitely  increased  and  strengthened.  An  event  certain  to  all, 
but  uncertain  in  its  approach  and  application  to  any,  is  iu 
itself  an  awakening  reflection.  'We  know  not  what  a  day, 
what  an  hour  may  bring  forth;  how  this  little  congregation 


362  new-year's  day. 

may  be  disposed  of  in  the  current  year,  we  can  none  of  us 
say;  the  eternal  condition  of  all  our  souls  may  be  at  stake. 
Can  there,  then,  with  this  knowledge  confirmed  to  us  by  ex- 
perience, be  the  shadow  of  excuse  for  putting  oflf  till  to-mor- 
row? Is  there  a  heart  present,  that  feels  not  at  this  moment 
the  force  of  such  an  appeal  to  its  own  uncertainty  of  conti- 
nued being?  Yet  alas!  how  weak  will  the  feeling  be  with 
too  many  ere  one  little  hour  is  past.  O  let  the  commence- 
ment of  another  year  of  health  and  hope,  be  to  us  all,  my 
hearers,  the  commencement  of  that  fear  of  the  Lord,  which 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom;  so  shall  we  be  prepared  alike 
for  the  vicissitudes  of  time,  and  the  unchangeable  realities 
of  eternity. 

Secondly^ — Another  consideration  to  be  drawn  from  the 
unchangeable  nature  of  God,  extends  that  attribute  to  his 
purposes,  as  well  as  to  his  being;  and  with  this  we  are  more 
concerned,  perhaps,  my  hearers,  than  with  his  eternity  of 
existence,  because  it  is  in  our  conformity  to  these  only,  that 
we  can  derive  any  rational  hope  of  his  favor.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows, that  whatever  is  in  any  way  oj)posed  to  him,  either  in 
the  holiness  of  his  nature,  or  the  supremacy  of  his  govern- 
ment, must  in  fact  be  in  a  state  of  hostility  against  him;  and 
as  such,  exposed  to  whatever  vengeance  the  vindication  of 
his  sovereign  dominion  over  all  created  things  shall  require. 
Now  as  this  opposition  can  only  be  manifested  by  rational 
creatures,  and  by  them  only  in  the  violation  of  the  law  or 
rule  given  them  to  keep;  therefore  they  alone  can  become 
guilty  of  sin;  and  as  sin  is  thus  a  direct  opposition,  at  one 
and  the  same  time  to  the  holiness  of  God's  nature  and  the 
dignity  of  his  government,  it  must  either  be  atoned  lor,  or 
punished,  according  to  the  conditions  of  the  law.  This  we 
all  know,  my  hearers,  both  from  the  nature  of  government, 
which  would  cease  to  be  such,  could  it  be  opposed  with  im- 
punity; from  the  nature  of  God,  who  cannot  look  upon  sin 
with  the  least  degree  of  allowance;  and  from  the  express  de- 
claration of  his  revealed  will,  "the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall 
die."  And  this  his  purpose  is  just  as  unchangeable  as  his 
nature  and  essence.  Yet  he  is  a  God  of  mercy  as  well  as  a 
God  of  justice;  a  God  of  love  as  well  as  a  God  of  vengeance; 
and  hath  most  wonderfully  provided  for  sinful  mortals  a  full 


new-year's    DAT.  363 

atonement  for  sin,  in  which,  it  was  at  once  punished,  and 
forgiven;  a  reprieve  from  the  sentence  of  death,  denounced 
against  them,  and  means  of  reconciliation  and  return  to  his 
favor.  Of  this,  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  authentic  decla- 
ration to  the  whole  world;  the  warrant,  for  even  the  chief  of 
sinners,  to  expect  and  obtain  mercy  upon  repentance,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  most  solemn  confirmation  of  his  unchange- 
able purpose  to  destroy  forever,  the  impenitent  and  ungodly. 
Hence  it  follows  most  undeniably,  that  the  sinner  must 
change,  or  perish  forever;  must  be  altered  and  amended,  not 
only  in  the  outward  deportment  of  his  life,  but  in  the  very 
source  and  spring  of  his  actions,  the  heart.  And  as  all  this 
must  be  done  in  the  short  and  uncertain  period  of  the  pre- 
sent life,  we  may,  from  this  alone,  form  some  estimate  of  the 
importance  of  time;  some  judgment  of  the  danger,  as  well  aa 
wickedness,  of  delaying  our  repentance,  and  be  moved  forth- 
with to  address  ourselves  to  God,  for  pardon  of  our  past  de- 
lay, and  for  grace  to  enable  us  to  bring  forth  fruit  meet  for 
repentance.  In  this  view  the  past  year  may  be  our  monitor, 
for  all  of  us  that  are  yet  to  run,  in  our  daily  shortening  limit 
of  mercy — may  be  made  to  us,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  what 
the  death  of  a  friend  is  often  sanctified  to,  the  turning  point 
of  our  present  and  everlasting  happiness.  O  that  God  may 
thus  be  pleased  to  sanctify  it  to  every  sinner  present.  O  that 
his  unchangeable  purpose  to  punish  sin,  evidenced  even  by 
his  love  to  sinners,  in  the  gift  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  time 
and  means  to  regain  his  favor,  and  eternal  life,  may  move 
them  to  that  change  of  life,  and  to  seek  that  change  of  heart, 
which  he  is  ever  ready,  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  work  in  them. 
Surely  the  time  past  of  this  life  may  sufiice  the  youngest  sin- 
ner present,  to  have  wrought  the  will  of  the  fiesh,  to  have 
continued  in  enmity  against  God,  and  exposed  to  his  wrath. 
Surely  the  sparing  mercy  of  God  may  soften  the  hardest 
heart,  and  melt  down  the  most  obdurate  temper.  Surely  the 
love  of  Christ  may  constrain  the  most  determined  sinner  to 
submit  to  the  sceptre  of  his  grace,  and  take  upon  him  the 
light  yoke  and  easy  burthen  of  the  gospel.  And  surely  the 
uncertainty  of  how  long  this  may  be  possible,  in  an  hourly 
shortening  day  of  life  and  grace,  may  start  them  to  escape 
from  everlasting  burnings,  and  seek  the  salvation  of  their 


364:  new-year's  day. 

immortal  souls.  "Awake,  tlien,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise 
from  the  dead,  and  Cheist  shall  give  thee  light."  Now  is  the 
accepted  time,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation — another  year, 
finother  month,  yea  another  day,  may  place  thee  beyond  the 
reach  of  that  mercy,  which  now  invites,  and  waits  to  bless 
thy  soul  with  the  salvation  of  God. 

Thirdly — A  further  consideration  of  the  unchano-eable- 
ness  of  God  in  his  nature  and  purpose,  gives  to  the  Christian 
that  full  assurance  which  enables  him  to  meet  the  various 
trials  of  this  life  with  patience,  and  in  connexion  with  his 
own  short  and  limited  state  of  being,  enables  him  to  look 
beyond  them,  and  to  triumph  over  them. 

*'Our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a  moment,"  says 
St.  Paul,  "work  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory — while  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are 
seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen."  In  which  pas- 
sage we  find  the  unchangeableness  of  God,  and  the  shortness 
of  human  life,  combined  together  as  the  ground  of  the  faith 
and  patience  of  the  saints.  Every  passing  year  of  our  life, 
therefore,  my  brethren,  if  rightly  considered,  is  gain  to  us  in 
two  respects.  It  shortens  the  time  allotted  to  trial,  and  brings 
us  so  much  nearer  to  our  reward.  It  abridges  the  period  of 
sorrow  and  suffering,  should  such  be  our  lot,  in  the  wise  pro- 
vidence of  God,  and  thus  lightens  the  burthen — and  it  dou- 
bles the  graciousness  of  prosperity,  while  it  counteracts  the 
ensnaring  character  of  such  a  state,  by  its  uncertainty,  and 
by  the  nearer  approach  of  that  glory  wluch  excelleth.  Thus 
are  all  thino-s  made  to  work  too-ether  for  cood  to  them  that 
love  God,  to  them  who  are  the  called  according  to  his  pur- 
pose. And  are  any  present  not  of  that  number?  God  forbid 
that  any  should  think  so.  For  if  the  testimony  of  God  is  of 
any  worth — the  day  and  its  appointments — his  sparing  mercy 
in  the  grant  of  more  time — the  counsel  and  invitation  of  his 
true  and  faithful  word,  yea  our  whole  gospel  state,  are  wit- 
nesses, "that  he  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath,  but  to  ob- 
tain salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Yet  true  it  is, 
that  though  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen.  And  why? 
Because  they  will  not  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate;  because 
they  prefer  the  broad  and  beaten  way  that  leadeth  to  de- 
struction, to  the  narrow  way  of  life — and  not  because  a  gra- 


kew-tear's  day.  365 

cions  and  merciful  God  either  withholds  his  grace,  or  with- 
stands their  desire.  No,  my  dear  young  friends,  and  halt- 
ing, hesitating  fellow-sinners,  of  all  ages,  whatever  the  testi- 
mony of  men  may  be,  this  witness  of  God  is  greater.  He 
liath  set  before  you  an  open  door,  which  neither  the  force 
nor  the  fraud  of  man  can  shut  against  you,  unless  you  believe 
men  rather  than  God — unless  you  withstand  those  drawings 
of  the  Father,  wherewith  he  would  bring  you  to  his  Son — ■ 
unless  you  break  away  from  those  cords  of  love  with  which 
Christ  would  bind  you  to  himself,  in  the  triumph  of  his  cross, 
over  sin,  death,  and  helh  And  every  Christian  present  can 
tell  you,  that  it  was  not  because  he  could  not,  but  because  he 
would  not,  that  he  did  not  long  before  enter  upon  the  joy 
and  peace  of  a  believing  state.  He  can  look  back  upon 
many  awakenings  which  he  stifled,  and  manj'  seasons  of 
mere}',  when  God  would,  but  he  would  not — and  it  is  his 
sentiment  of  deepest  tjjankfulness,  and  highest  admiration 
of  God's  mercy,  that  he  was  not  provoked  to  abandom  him, 
but  strove  with  him  by  his  holy  and  loving  Spirit,  until  a 
better  mind  was  renewed  in  him.  O,  my  dear  brethren^ 
what  miracles  of  grace  are  we  debtors  for.  The  common 
argument  resorted  to  by  the  narrowers  of  God's  grace  to  a 
sinful  world — that  because  a  sinner  does  not  come  in  until  a 
certain  time,  that,  therefore,  he  could  not  come  sooner,  is, 
with  all  the  art  and  cunning  of  its  construction,  both  unscrip- 
tural  and  illogical — as  is  that  still  more  dangerous  conclu- 
sion, that  because  a  sinner  never  comes,  but  dies  impenitent 
—that,  therefore,  God  withjjeld  from  him  the  means  of  grace, 
because  he  was  a  vessel  appointed  to  wrath.  These  are  not 
the  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ,  though  we  may  draw  them, 
and  some  support  for  them,  by  wresting  the  Scriptures  from 
their  true  purpose.  His  doctrine,  who  gave  himself  a  ran- 
som for  all,  is,  repent,  believe,  and  be  saved — his  invitation 
is,  come  unto  me  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  be  saved. 
His  encouragement  for  us  to  come  is,  him  that  cometh  unto 
me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  In  tliis  language  he  speake 
to  us  all,  this  day,  my  hearers;  and  by  the  vanishing  away 
of  another  of  our  years,  tries  to  awaken  us  to  the  su])reme 
importance  of  preparation  for  that  day,  when  he  shall  appear 
in  liis  glorious  majesty — when  the  lieavens  shall  flee  away 


366  new-year's  day. 

from  his  presence — when  all  the  proud  and  all  who  have 
done  wickedly — when  those  who  know  not  God,  and  obey 
not  his  gospel,  shall  be  fuel  for  those  everlasting  burnings, 
in  which  sin  and  sinners  shall  be  shut  up  for  ever,  no  more 
to  vex  the  children  of  God,  or  spoil  the  beauty  and  mar  the 
happiness  of  a  new  creation. 

O,  come  that  blessed  day  and  its  blessed  enjoyments — but 
come  first,  in  God's  mercy,  that  day  of  power,  in  converting 
grace,  turning  the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  just,  and  the  hearts  of  his  children  to  their  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.  O,  come  first  that  day  of  the  Son  of  man, 
which  shall  establish  his  kingdom  in  every  heart,  and  pre- 
pare this  little  congregation  of  redeemed  creatures  to  meet 
the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  their  souls  with  joy  and  not  with 
grief. — Amen — even  so  come  Lord  Jesus,  with  the  blessings 
of  thy  gi'ace  upon  our  souls,  tliat  the  years  which  remain  in 
thy  gift  may  witness  for  us,  in  the  great  day  of  eternity,  that 
warning  was  not  thrown  away  upon  us,  and  time  and  oppor- 
tunity abused,  to  the  dishonor  of  God,  and  to  the  destruction 
of  those  immortal  souls  whom  thou  didst  redeem,  and  call 
by  thy  gospel  to  an  inheritance  of  glory  and  blessedness. 

ISiow,  to  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  be  ascribed,  &c.  &c. 


SEEMOK  X. 


ASCENSION   OF   CHRIST. 


St.  John  vi.  62. 
"What  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  up,  -where  he  was  before?" 

Hard  sayings  iu  religion  are  exceedingly  multiplied  to 
that  description  of  persons,  whose  affections  and  habits  are 
determined  chiefly  by  the  gratifications  and  advantages  of 
the  present  life.  So  far  as  tlie  morality  of  the  gospel  is  op- 
posed to  the  delmucheries  and  profligacy  of  dissolute  conduct, 
it  is  approved  of;  but  when  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  are 
a^jplied  to  the  regulation  of  the  heart  as  well  as  of  the  out- 
ward life;  when  the  spiritual  nature  of  its  requirements  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  indulgencies  and  enjoyments  which 
the  I'ules  of  fashionable  life  endeavor  to  keep  within  the 
boundary  of  decency  and  decorum,  then  it  is  that  the  carnal 
mind  is  offended,  and  its  ingenuity  set  to  work  to  frame  some 
excuse  for  going  back  from  that  imitation  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  which  is  required  of  all  his  true  disciples.  Yet  these 
hard  sayings  have  in  themselves  no  difficulty,  insuperable  to 
honest  endeavor,  either  to  apprehend  or  to  practice  them. 
As  fundamentals  of  the  religion  we  have  received  from 
heaven,  they  are  within  the  reach  of  our  assisted  powers,  to 
apply  them  to  that  attainment  of  renewed  desires  and  affec- 
tions which  constitute  our  fitness  for  those  mansions  of  blessed- 
ness whither  our  Saviour  Christ  is  gone  before,  to  prepare  a 
place  fur  liis  faithful  followers.  The  difficulty  is  wholly  iu 
ourselves,  and  it  is  one  which  every  consideration  of  reason, 
of  duty,  of  interest,  and  of  obligation,  bind  us  to  counteract, 
and  to  overcome. 

Nor  has  heaven  been  unmindful  of  this  ruinous  propensity 
of  our  alienated  hearts.  To  the  declarations  of  inspired 
truth,  are  superadded  the  conclusions  of  the  plainest  reason, 
the  results  of  a  most  extended  and  continually  recurring  ex- 
perience, the  facts  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  and  moro 


368  ASCENSION    OF   CHRIST. 

directly-,  the  facts  in  tlie  personal  liistorj  of  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith.  These  all  bear  testimony  against  tiie 
delusion  of  neglecting  the  care  of  our  souls,  because  of  some 
presumed  difficulty  in  that  system  of  faith  and  obedience,  by 
which  only,  their  everlasting  welfare  can  be  secured. 

To  the  fact  of  our  Lord's  ascension  into  heaven,  in  par- 
ticular, is  referred  tiie  refutation  of  an  objection  of  this  de- 
scription, taken  by  the  Jews  who  had  become  his  disciples, 
to  the  doctrines  which  he  taught.  "Doth  tliis  offend  you," 
says  our  Lord,  "what,  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  as- 
cend up,  where  he  was  before?"  What  will  then  become  of 
your  objections  to  the  reception  of  my  doctrine,  when  you 
have  such  visible  proof  of  its  being  divine  and  true,  as  my 
ascent  into  heaven,  who  came  down  from  thence,  to  make 
known  to  you  the  will  of  God,  and  to  prepare  a  new  and 
living  way  for  your  return  to  your  Father's  house? 

The  inquiry  put  in  my  text,  therefore,  naturally  dii'ects 
our  meditations  to  what  forms  the  subject  matter  of  that  pub- 
lic and  private  instruction  which  the  Church  has  provided 
for  the  edification  of  her  members,  on  this  day,  and  will  form 
the  ground  work  of  my  discourse. 

First — To  that  class  of  persons  who  withhold  themselves 
from  any  profession  or  practice  of  the  duties  of  religion,  on 
the  assumption  that  there  are  difficulties  attending  it,  which 
they  are  unable  to  overcome,  the  consideration  of  the  nature 
and  strength  of  the  testimony  herebj''  given,  to  the  divine 
origin  and  truth  of  Christianity,  is  full  of  the  most  awaken- 
ing reflections,  and  if  dwelt  upon  with  any  seriousness  and 
sincerity  of  miiid,  must  put  to  flight  all  objections  of  this 
sort; — for,  I  pray  you,  would  the  God  of  truth  give  this  con- 
vincing demonstration  to  the  truth  of  a  system  of  religion, 
which  those,  for  whose  benefit  it  was  contrived  and  revealed, 
could  neither  apprehend  or  practice?  The  supposition  is  im- 
pious, and  ought  to  strike  with  dismay  all  (if  indeed  there 
are  any  who  really  entertain  it,)  who  resort  to  this  cover  of  a 
more  hardened  antipath}^  to  the  gospel;  for  to  what  else  can 
it  be  attributed,  but  to  the  love  of  sin,  if  men  reject  the  only 
remedy  against  its  fatal  effects,  because  of  some  supposed 
difficulty  in  the  obtaining  or  the  taking  it?  When  inordinate 
affection  for  the  riches  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  when  over 


ASCENSION   OF   CHRIST.  369 

engagement  with  its  occupations,  or  pursuit  of  its  frivolous 
dissipations,  shelter  themselves  against  the  claims  of  religion, 
under  the  plea  of  dif&culty,  what  else  is  it,  but  a  clear  de- 
monstration of  tlie  carnal  mind,  which  is  enmity  against 
God,  a  speaking  proof  that  such  persons  prefer  the  gains  and 
the  business,  the  profits  and  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  to 
the  favor  of  God,  and  everlasting  felicity  in  his  heavenly 
kingdom.  Certainly  the  wisdom  of  God  puts  this  interpreta- 
tion upon  their  conduct,  and  will  deal  with  them  accordingly. 

But  the  objection  is  not  merely  impious — it  is  not  alto- 
getlier  a  pretext,  and  consequently  the  more  sinful;  because, 
no  attempt  liaving  been  made  by  them,  either  to  ascertain 
what  the  difficulty  really  amounts  to,  or  in  what  way  it  may 
be  overcome,  it  is  a  gratuitous  objection,  and  as  such  must 
be  classed  with  those  strong  delusions  which  God  not  only 
judicially  permits,  but  which  he  sends  upon  those  "who  re- 
ceive not  the  love  of  the  truth  that  they  might  be  saved." 
In  a  concern  so  important  as  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  no- 
thing but  endeavors,  the  eflbrt  of  conviction,  can  manifest 
sincerity  and  secure  success;  and  as  the  bare  possibility  that 
the  condition  of  eternity  may  be  well  or  ill  aflected  by  the 
course  of  the  present  life,  is  sufficient  to  convince  every  rea- 
sonable mind  of  the  great  importance  of  religion,  it  is  equally 
sufficient  to  condemn  the  neglect  of  indifierence,  the  evasions 
of  artifice,  and  the  opposition  of  unbelief,  to  those  high  and 
concerning  truths,  which  God  hath  revealed  to  the  world,  by 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Religion  being  a  provision  of  heaven's  mercy,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  mankind,  a  contrivance  of  heaven's  wisdom,  to  deliver 
them  from  the  dominion  of  sin  and  eternal  death,  and  a 
proof  of  the  love  of  God  even  towards  his  enemies;  a  very 
malignant  character  is  thereby  stamped  upon  every  shade  of 
opposition  to  its  requirements.  And  when,  in  addition  to 
this,  we  consider  its  further  and  more  gracious  purpose  of 
preparing  sinful  creatures  for  the  presence  and  enjoyment  of 
God  in  everlasting  glory,  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  all  ob- 
jections to  its  wholesome  discipline,  and  life-giving  doctrine, 
is  enhanced  beyond  all  power  of  expression.  Yet  the  course 
and  condition  of  the  Christian  world  is  such,  that  the  oppo- 
neats  of  the  gospel,  whether  direct,  or  indirect,  are  by  far. 
[Vol.  1,— *24.] 


370  ASCENSION   or   CHEIST. 

the  most  numerous  body,  and  tliereby  call  very  loudly  upon 
professing  Cliristians  to  examine  carefully  what  occasion 
their  lives  may  give  to  cast  reproach  upon  religion,  and  there- 
by increase  the  difficulties,  and  strengthen  the  opposition,  of 
many,  who  might  otherwise  be  brought  to  a  better  mind. 

Secondly,  then,  to  professors  of  religion  who  yet  so  mingle 
the  world  with  the  outward  duties  of  religion  as  to  give  its 
adversaries  the  advantage  against  the  gospel,  by  the  incon- 
sistency of  their  lives  with  its  strict  and  holy  requirements 
— to  such  persons  the  arguments  derived  from  the  ascension 
of  the  Lord  Jksos  Christ,  in  proof  of  the  religidn  he  taught 
and  established  in  the  world,  are  all  strengthened  and  enforced 
by  their  own  voluntary  adoption  of  the  conditions  on  which 
the  promises  of  God  in  the  gospel  are  suspended.  Hence, 
when  professors  of  religion  are  seen  as  intent  upon  the  world's 
reward,  and  as  free  and  frequent  in  its  vain  and  proscribed 
enjoyments,  as  those  who  make  no  profession  of  the  fear  of 
God,  the  conclusion  is  at  once,  and  justly,  drawn,  that  they 
do  not  believe,  what  nevertheless  the}^  profess;  and  encour- 
agement is  hereby  given  to  tlie  thoughtless  and  the  dissolute, 
to  persevere  in  their  iniquity,  while  the  ungodly  are  furnished 
with  means  to  triumph  against  the  gospel,  and  the  name 
of  God  is  blasphemed  through  those  who  are  pledg'ed  to  pro- 
mote his  glory. 

That  this  is  more  frequently  the  case  than  it  ought  to  be, 
requires  no  otlier  proof  than  experience  and  observation;  and 
that  the  evils  resulting  from  it  are  justly  charged,  is  demon- 
strated by  the  increasing  tendency  in  the  religious  woi'ld  to 
lower  the  standard  of  religious  duty;  and  as  the  morality  of 
unbelievers  approaches  the  morality  of  the  gospel,  to  assimi- 
late the  strict  and  holy  requirements  of  the  Chi'istian  pro- 
fession to  the  loose  accommodating  maxims  of  the  world.  By 
this  unhallowed  exchange,  infidelity  is  the  only  gainer;  and 
therefore  it  is  that  it  is  so  countenanced,  and  the  smile  of  the 
world  so  freely  bestowed  on  those  liberal  minded  Christians, 
whose  system  of  faith  and  j^ractice  is  accommodated  to  this 
specious,  but  heartless  manifestation  of  charity. 

To  the  production  of  this  great  and  increasing  evil,  many 
causes  conspire;  but  chiefly  the  apj)rehended  difficulties  of 
fulfilling  the  requirements  of  religious  duty.    This  prepares 


ASCENSION   OF   CHllIST.  371 

tbe  way  for  one  compromise  after  anotber,  until  little  but  tbe 
form  of  godliness  is  left;  and  wben  once  a  sufficient  number 
can  be  found  to  countenance  each  other  in  this  course  of  de- 
cline from  vital  godliness,  tbe  delusion  is  increased,  and  tbe 
"world  quickly  gains  tbe  ascendancy  in  their  hearts. 

This  may  be  exemplified  by  tbe  duties  which  professing 
parents  owe  to  tlieir  children,  and  which  they  have  solemnly 
undertaken  to  perform,  as  the  condition  on  which  tbe  favor 
of  God  is  pledged  to  them  and  to  their  offspring.  This  high- 
est parental  duty  requires  the  utmost  watchfulness,  self-de- 
nial, perseverence,  and  prayer;  it  is  prompted  by  tbe  tender- 
est  of  all  feelings,  and  tlie  highest  of  all  motives;  yet  the  dif- 
ficulties which  tbe  cori"uption  of  our  nature,  and  tbe  tempta- 
tions of  tbe  world,  continually  present,  in  too  many  cases 
overcome  them  all,  and  the  woful  spectacle  is  presented,  of 
these  very  children,  not  only  unnurtured  iu  the  fear  of  God, 
but  actually  trained  and  furnished  for  tiie  love  of  the  world, 
and  its  maxims  inculcated,  and  its  sanctions  made  to  operate, 
with  more  care  and  with  more  effect  than  the  maxims  of  re- 
ligion and  the  sanctions  of  eternity.  Need  we  to  be  surprised, 
then  at  the  decline,  not  only  of  the  tone  and  temper  of  reli- 
gious feeling  in  professors  themselves,  but  of  its  influence  on 
the  community  at  large?  I  think  not;  and  that  our  surprise 
rather  should  be,  that  God  bath  not  been  provoked  to  with- 
draw from  us  altogether  the  succors  of  bis  grace.  AVhile  he 
therefore  spares  us,  and  in  various  ways  presents  tbe  admo- 
nitions of  his  wisdom  and  love  for  our  good,  let  us  consider 
what  arguments  and  motives  to  a  different  course  are  pre- 
sented by  tbe  ascension  of  our  Lord  into  tbe  heavens. 

I.  And,  first,  as  tbe  ascension  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus  to 
the  right  hand  of  God,  is  conclusive  proof  that  the  religion 
he  taught  and  established  in  the  world  is  divine  and  true, 
the  duty  is  imperious  upon  all  who  are  called  to  tbe  know- 
ledge of  this  grace,  to  acquaint  themselves  with  its  doctrines 
— to  believe  its  declarations,  and  to  obey  its  precepts.  In 
this,  as  there  is  no  discretion,  so  can  no  difficulty,  either  real 
or  imaginary,  be  pleaded  as  an  excuse.  From  the  goodness 
of  God,  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  nothing  is  required  of 
us,  either  impossible  in  itself,  or  beyond  tbe  power  of  those 
faculties  which  constitute  us  moral  beings,  and  by  tbe  aid  of 


372 


ASCENSION   OF   CHKI8T. 


his  promised  grace,  are  equal  to  all  that  religion  requires  of 
us.  Nor  yet  are  we  to  presume  that  the  service  of  God  is 
iuconsistent  with  our  present  happiness — rather  are  we  bound 
to  believe,  from  the  benignity  of  liis  nature,  that  whatever 
has  that  appearance,  is  occasioned  by  erroneous  views  of 
what  our  present  happiness  consists  in;  and  by  the  surrender 
of  our  own  sinful  inclinations,  to  liis  wise  and  holy  counsels, 
to  make  proof,  at  once  of  our  own  docility  and  of  the  truth 
of  his  holy  word.  Especially  is  this  course  called  for  in  those 
whose  woful  experience  has  given  them  sensible  proof,  that 
the  ways  of  self-will,  of  sin  and  folly,  are  ways  of  disappoint- 
ment, and  sorrow,  and  bitterness  of  spirit.  And  as  the  good- 
ness of  God  has  provided,  that  sincere  repentance  shall  re- 
new favor,  through  the  merits  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  en- 
couragement is  given,  even  to  the  chief  of  sinners,  to  return 
to  God,  and,  by  a  new  and  amended  life,  to  reap  the  happy 
fruit  of  peace  here,  and  reward  hereafter;  and  as  the  voice  of 
reason  points  out  the  wisdom  of  thus  turning  from  death  unto 
life,  so  is  it  confirmed  by  the  word  of  revelation,  which  de- 
clares to  every  sinner,  that  "except  he  repent  he  shall  perish." 

n.  Secondly,  as  the  ascension  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus  is 
the  great  proof  of  the  truth  and  divine  origin  of  the  religion  he 
taught,  so  is  the  consideration  of  this  fact  the  strongest  in- 
ducement to  repent,  and  believe  the  gospel. 

Now,  this  inducement  is  found,  not  merely  in  the  truth 
and  divine  nature  of  his  religion,  which  yet  is  ground  suf- 
ficient for  every  wise  man  to  build  his  faith  and  hope  upon, 
but  in  the  circumstances  connected  with  it. 

His  ascension  into  heaven  was  a  visible  installing  him  inta 
his  office,  as  head  over  all  things  to  his  Church;  so  that 
through  him  we  now  look  up  to  God,  address  our  prayer* 
and  praises,  with  hope  of  acceptance;  and  through  him  re- 
ceive those  returns  of  mercy  and  favor,  which  for  his  sake 
are  vouchsafed  to  a  race  of  redeemed  sinners. 

His  ascension  into  heaven  was  a  demonstration  of  the 
triumph  of  human  nature  over  the  powers  of  darkness,  there^ 
by  giving  assurance  of  the  like  victory  over  their  power  and 
malice,  to  every  true  believer  in  his  name. 

His  ascension  into  heaven  was  the  prelude  to  those  mani- 
fold gifts  of  grace,  which  he  poured  out  upon  the  world  in 


ASCENSION   OF   CHRIST.  373 

the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  abide  with  his  Church  for  ever, 
as  the  comforter,  enlightener,  and  sanctifier  of  his  people. 

This  was  the  promise  of  the  Father  to  the  Son,  in  order  to 
complete  the  great  work  of  our  salvation  from  sin  and  eternal 
death,  by  the  renewal  of  our  hearts,  and  the  sanctification  of 
our  lives;  and  the  first  display  of  our  Redeemer's  exaltation 
was  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  herein  are  all,  who 
have  hearts  to  feel  and  tongues  to  utter  praise,  called  upon 
to  adore  and  magnify  the  riches  of  that  grace  in  which  all 
are  provided,  to  conquer  sin,  to  overcome  death,  and  inherit 
eternity,  in  the  heavenly  mansions  of  love,  and  joy,  and 
peace — and  hereby  are  all  bound,  to  whom  the  knowledge 
of  this  salvation  is  sent,  forthwith  to  turn  from  the  error  of 
their  ways,  to  embrace  the  gospel,  and  by  a  life  and  conver- 
sation conformed  to  its  holy  requirements,  to  follow  the  cap- 
tain of  their  salvation  to  his  heavenly  kingdom — and  this 
they  are  required  to  do,  because,  through  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  power  is  conferred  to  fulfil  their  high  calling. 
Whatever  excuse,  therefore,  men  may  be  disposed  to  make 
from  difficulty  in  religion,  is  altogether  unfounded.  No  more 
difficulty  exists,  than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  probation 
of  moral  beings — none  that  is  insuperable  to  the  renewed 
and  assisted  powers  of  redeemed  beings — and,  as  on  this  is 
founded  the  responsibility  of  accountable  beings,  reward  or 
punishment  will  surely  follow,  according  as  this  state  of  grace 
and  salvation  is  improved  or  neglected. 

HI.  Thirdly,  the  ascension  of  Christ  into  heaven  in  that 
same  body  which  suffered  on  the  cross,  is  the  clear  and  con- 
vincing proof  that  the  mortal  bodies  of  all  who  embrace  the 
faith,  obey  the  precepts,  and  follow  the  example,  of  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  shall  with  him  also  thither  ascend,  and  enjoy 
for  ever  the  pleasures  which  flow  from  the  presence  of  God, 
in  the  society  of  Christ,  of  the  holy  angels,  and  of  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect. 

The  consideration  of  our  Lord's  ascension,  therefore,  pre- 
sents religion  to  our  notice  in  a  near  and  very  interesting 
relation,  to  those  endearing  ties  which  connect  us  so  closely 
in  the  present  life.  As  our  state  hereafter  will  depend  on 
our  conduct  here,  so  have  we  reason  to  believe,  from  the 
circumstance  of  the  resurrection  of  our  bodies,  that  those 


374  ASCENSION   OF   CnRIST. 

affections  and  qualilications  wliich  form  the  nobler  parfe  of 
our  nature  in  this  our  state  of  trial,  will  form  a  correspond- 
ing- part  of  tlie  enjoyments  of  a  future  state  of  being. — A 
reflection,  my  brethren,  which  links  the  religion  of  the  gospel 
to  the  sanctified  ties  of  family  and  kindred,  and  unites  the 
tenderest  affections  of  our  mortal  natures  with  the  holiest 
hopes  of  our  immortal  spirits;  and  if  dwelt  upon  and  realize.d, 
as  it  ought  to  be,  adds  another  to  the  many  proofs  we  are 
furnished  with,  of  that  wisdom  and  prudence,  as  the  apostle 
expresses  it,  wherewith  a  gracious  God  hath  dealt  with  us, 
and  fitted  this  dispensation  of  his  grace,  so  exquisitely,  to- 
the  nature  of  the  being  for  whom  it  is  contrived,  that  only 
by  the  most  inveterate  opposition  to  reason,  and  interest,  and 
feeling,  can  he  fail  to  be  moved^  and  drawn  by  cords  of 
divine  and  human  love  to  seek  his  own  happiness  and  the 
hajjpiness  of  all  who  are  dear  to  him,  by  the  performance  of 
those  duties  which  God  has  enjoined  to  this  very  end.  And 
who  does  not  see  what  happy  effects  would  flow  from  such 
considerations,  what  union  among  Christians,  what  endear- 
ment in  families,  what  zeal  to  promote  religion,  what  com- 
fort and  consolation,  amidst  those  inevitable  privations, 
which  are  only  unbearable  when  the  hope  of  reunion  is  pre- 
cluded by  the  absence  of  religion.  O  how  cold  and  comfort- 
less is  the  condition  of  the  unbeliever.  He  looks  around  him 
periiai)S  on  many  blessings,  on  a  flourishing  famil}^,  and  a 
prosperous  worldly  condition;  but  he  must  look  upon  them 
as  transient  things — in  a  few  short  and  uncertain  years  to 
come  to  an  end,  and  no  more  to  visit  his  heart  for  ever.  He 
cannot,  therefore,  feel  the  holy  influence  of  that  sanctified 
character  which  the  same  blessings  impart  to  the  heart  of 
the  believer,  nor  can  he  enjoy  them  with  that  high  relish, 
nor  resign  them  with  that  blessed  hope,  which  religion  sheds 
over  the  brightest  as  well  as  the  darkest  periods  of  our  pil- 
grimage. 

Lastly,  the  ascension  of  Christ  into  heaven,  as  it  is  con- 
clusive proof  of  the  truth  and  divine  original  of  his  religion, 
and  of  the  obligation  all  are  under  to  embrace  and  obey  the 
gos])el — as  it  is  demonstrative  of  his  exaltation  to  supreme 
dominion  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  so  is  it  an  irrefragable  tes- 
timony, that  this  same  Jesus  is  he  whona  God  hatl^  prdp^Red 
the  judge  of  quick  and  dead. 


ASCENSION   OF   CIIKIST.  375 

This  is  a  consideration,  my  hearers,  which  is  cheerful  and 
encouraging,  or  gloomy  and  alarming,  according  to  the  in- 
fluence religion  hath  obtained  over  our  hearts  and  lives.  To 
the  Cliristian,  it  is  very  full  of  comfort,  that  the  infirmity  and 
imperfection  of  his  best  intended  services,  that  the  sliort- 
coming  of  his  best  performed  duties,  and  the  sinfulness  of  his 
lioliest  affections,  are  to  be  tried  before  a  Friend,  and  fellow- 
sufferer  from  the  temptations  of  the  world  and  the  malice  of 
the  devil — that  his  Judge  has  himself  been  tempted,  and 
though  without  sin,  knows  how  "to  have  compassion  on  the 
ignorant,  and  them  that  are  out  of  the  way."  While  to  the 
unbeliever,  to  the  redeemed  sinner,  who  hath  turned  away 
from  his  word,  and  derided  his  grace,  who  hath  refused  his 
love,  and  scorned  his  wrath,  Avho  hath  trampled  on  his  blood, 
and  done  despite  to  his  holy  Spirit,  the  thought  that  he  has 
to  meet  this  same  Jesus  as  his  Judge,  is  a  heart  sinking  re- 
flection. For  what  plea  can  he  then  put  in  to  move  the  com- 
passion of  his  Judge?  The  season  of  mercy  is  past,  the  inter- 
cession of  Christ  has  ceased,  he  is  no  longer  a  Saviour,  but 
a  Judge.  The  period  of  probation  is  over.  No  repentance 
can  then  avail,  and  as  the  unbeliever  has  chosen  death  in  the 
error  of  his  life,  so  death  awaits  him  in  all  the  plenitude  of 
endless  remorse  and  despair,  O  what  a  price  to  paj'  for  the 
pleasures  of  sin,  for  the  vanities  of  the  world,  for  the  vanished 
honor  of  its  perishing  applause.  Yet  thus  it  must  be,  ray 
hearers,  for  God  cannot  deny  himself,  and  make  Curist  the 
minister  of  sin,  by  awarding  eternal  happiness  to  those  who 
have  not  prepared  themselves  in  their  day  of  grace  for  the 
blessed  company  of  heaven.  They  must  go  to  their  own 
place,  to  the  society  of  such  as  themselves,  to  the  company 
of  devils,  and  to  the  interminable  torments  of  the  wrath  of 
God,  poured  out  upon  their  ingratitude,  as  the  just  wages  of 
sin  preferred,  and  salvation  slighted. 

And  is  there  an  escape  from  this  misery  to  the  thousands 
who  are  exposed  to  it?  Yes,  blessed  be  God,  there  is  de- 
liverance from  this  body  of  death,  through  Jp:sus  Christ  our 
Lord:  he  hath  suffered  for  sin — he  hath  risen  from  the  dead 
— he  hath  ascended  into  heaven — lie  hath  led  captivity  cap- 
tive, and  given  gifts  unto  men,  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
guide  them  into  all  truth,  to  convince  them  of  sin,  to  show 


376  ASCENSION    OF   CHRIST. 

them  the  efficacy  of  his  death,  and  to  sanctify  them  for  those 
mansions  of  blessedness,  whither  he  is  gone  before  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  all  who  believe  and  obey  him.  And  shall 
the  sinner,  the  helpless  death-sticken  sinner,  remain  unmoved 
by  this  display  of  mercy  and  love?  Shall  sin  prove  stronger 
than  salvation,  and  Christ  die  in  vain  for  any  present?  God 
forbid!  Let  serious  reflection,  then,  lead  you  to  desire  the 
knowledge  of  God;  let  his  holv  word  guide  you  to  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus;  let  his  Holy  Spirit  bring  you  to  repentance, 
and  the  prayer  of  faith  replenish  your  soul  with  the  fear  of 
God,  and  the  love  of  Christ — then  shall  the  hope  that  maketh 
not  ashamed  purify  your  heart  from  the  love  of  sin,  and  in- 
spire those  holy  afi'ections  which  fit  you  for  the  presence  of 
God,  that  when  the  end  shall  come,  3'ou  may  leave  a  world 
of  sin  and  sinners,  and  ascending  with  Christ  to  the  habita- 
tion of  his  holiness,  sit  down  forever  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  where  there  shall  be  no  more  sin,  no  more  death,  no 
more  sorrow,  no  more  suifering;  but  all  shall  be  love,  and 
joy,  and  peace — a  felicity,  bounded  only  by  the  omnipotence 
of  God,  and  the  extent  of  eternity.  To  which  that  we  may 
all  come,  God  in  his  infinite  mercy  grant,  for  Jesus  Christ's 
sake.    To  whom,  &c.  &c. 


SERMON  XI. 


TEINITT   SUNDAY. 


1  Timothy  hi.  16. 

"And  without  controversy,  great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness;  God  was 
manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preached  unto 
the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world,  received  up  into  glory." 

"Whether  we  understand  godliness  in  its  common  accepta- 
tion of  an  habitually  religious  disposition  and  conduct,  or  of 
the  means  which  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God  have  contrived 
and  appointed  in  order  to  the  production  of  this  eifect,  upon 
a  race  of  depraved  and  sinful  creatures;  the  assertion  of  the 
apostle  is  equally  true,  and  equally  demands  our  devout  and 
serious  consideration. 

Godliness  is  a  great  mystery,  or  a  deep  and  unsearchable 
operation  of  divine  grace,  manifest  or  made  sensible  to  us  in 
the  one  case,  by  the  effect  produced  upon  our  own  hearts; 
and  exhibited  in  the  other  case,  by  that  eternal  purpose  of 
mercy  and  salvation  to  fallen  man,  which  was  decreed  in  the 
counsels  of  heaven  before  the  world  was,  is  now  fully  made 
known  by  the  revelation  of  the  gospel,  and  is  in  operation  in 
the  world. 

That  the  apostle  here  uses  the  word  godliness  to  denote 
the  plan  and  fulfilment  of  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  the 
Son  of  God,  must  be  evident  from  the  enumeration,  in  the 
text,  of  those  particulars  which  constitute  the  mystery  he 
refers  to.  And  as  the  subject,  however  deep,  embraces  a 
fundamental  doctrine  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints, 
is  practically  edifying  to  Christians,  and  appropriated  to  the 
services  of  the  day,  I  shall  endeavor  to  apply  it  to  these  pur- 
poses, by  laying  before  you. 

First,  some  considerations,  calculated  to  obviate  the  ob- 
jections hastily  and  erroneously  taken  up  against  such  doc- 
trines of  religion  as  are  mysterious  in  their  nature,  and  par- 
ticularly against  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 


378  TEINITY   SUNDAY. 

Secondly,  by  ])ointiiig  out  the  confirmation  given  to  thia 
doctrine  by  the  different  tacts  mentioned  in  the  text,  and 
which,  together,  form  the  mystery  of  godliness. 

Thirdly,  by  showing  you  the  connexion  between  the  be- 
lief of  this  doctrine  and  practical  religion,  or  personal  godli- 
ness. 

"And  without  controversy,  great  is  the  mystery  of  godli- 
ness; God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit, 
seen  of  angels,  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the 
world,  received  up  into  glory." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  lay  before  you  some  observations  calcu- 
lated to  obviate  tlie  objections,  hastily  and  erroneously  taken 
up,  J'gainst  such  doctrines  of  religion  as  arc  njysterious  in 
their  nature,  and  particularly  against  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity. 

The  word  myster3%  in  its  common  acceptation,  means 
something  secret  and  inexplical)le,  and  is  applied  either  to 
natural  events,  the  causes  of  which  we  cannot  penetrate,  or 
to  moral  actions,  tlie  motions  and  springs  to  which  are  so 
concealed  and  impervious  as  to  preclude  discover}-.  Of  each 
of  these,  observation  and  experience  teach  ns,  that  there  is  a 
great  variety,  and  might  thereby  prepare  us,  with  all  hu- 
mility and  readiness  of  mind,  to  expect,  and  to  receive  with- 
out objection,  the  higher  and  more  sublime  mysteries  of  re- 
ligion. 

In  the  religious  acceptation  of  the  word,  it  is  applied  to 
whatever  is  in  such  wise  above  or  beyond  human  intelligence, 
in  its  own  nature  or  mode  of  being,  as  to  be  known  only  by 
express  revelation.  Of  these  there  are  two  descriptions — 
one,  which,  when  revealed,  may  in  a  good  degree,  if  not  al- 
together, be  explained  and  understood;  such  as. the  satisfac- 
tion of  Christ's  death  for  the  sins  of  men,  the  operation  of 
divine  grace  upon  the  human  heart,  the  resurrection  of  our 
mortal  bodies;  with  others,  which  might  be  named.  The 
other,  embracing  those  doctrines,  the  truth  and  certainty  of 
which  we  know  likewise  by  revelation,  but  cannofe  compre- 
hend either  their  nature  or  the  manner  how  they  are;  such 
as  the  trinity  of  persons  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  and 
the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  man  Christ 
Jesus.     These  are  facts  revealed  to  our  faith,  not  to  our  un- 


TRINITY   SUNDAY.  6i\f 

derstaiidiDg — they  rest  upon  the  authority  of  the  revealci\ 
not  upon  the  reason  of  the  creature,  and  from  their  very  na- 
ture, warn  us,  that  as  all  speculation  intothe  nuiuner  of  tiicir 
being  must  prove  abortive,  it  is  both  presumptuous  and  dan- 
gerous to  intrude  "into  things  not  seen,  vainly  putted  up  by 
a  fleshly  mind." 

In  u  communication  from  heaven  to  mankind  on  subjects 
purely  spiritual,  it  is,  a  priori,  reasonable  to  expect  that  there 
should  be  much  above  any  power  of  comprehension  we  possess 
as  ratioiuil  beings.  Mysteries  in  religion,  therefore,  ought 
not  to  excite  our  surprise,  far  less  should  tliey  be  resorted 
to,  either  as  a  ground  of  objection,  or  as  an  excuse  tor  un- 
belief; and  this  we  are  tauglit  by  the  analogies  both  of  the 
natural  and  of  the  moral  world.  IIow  many  things  palpable 
to  our  senses  are  yet  bej'ond  the  reach  of  our  faculties  to 
comprehend  the  manner  of  their  being,  or  the  properties  of 
their  nature?  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou 
hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh 
and  wliither  it  goeth" — And  shall  lie  "who  bringeth  the 
wind  out  of  his  treasures"  be  denied  in  the  communications 
he  hath  made  of  himself  to  his  creatures,  because  he  is  more 
incomprehensible  than  his  works?  Folly  and  enmity,  even 
the  enmity  of  the  carnal  mind,  is  stamped  upon  the  pre- 
sumption. If  the  elements  in  the  midst  of  which  we  live,  if 
the  earth  upon  which  we  tread,  and  tiie  food  which  nourishes 
our  bodies,  all  contain  secrets  as  to  their  nature  and  proper- 
ties, which  the  wisdom  that  is  in  man  caimot  search  out, 
shall  not  the  pride  that  is  offended,  and  rejects  the  mysteries 
of  the  divine  mind,  revealed  for  our  good,  stand  rebuked  for 
its  impiety,  and  humble  itself  to  receive  the  invisible  things 
of  God,  just  as  "He  in  whom  is  no  darkness  at  all,  who  is 
perfect  in  knowledge,"  hath  prepared  and  fitted  them  to  our 
actual  condition?  Surely,  if  that  boasted  reason,  to  wiiicli 
the  appeal  is  so  confidently  and  constantly  made,  in  su))port 
of  this  objection  to  revealed  religion,  be  not  itself  a  fallacy, 
it  must  see  and  acknowledge,  that  in  things  wholly  beyond 
its  observation  and  experience,  God  himself  is  the  only  source 
of  knowledge.  All  that  regards  his  nature,  his  properties, 
his  mode  of  being,  his  will  as  to  us,  and  his  purposes  con- 
cerning us,  must  come  from  him.    If  then,  God  hath  spoken, 


380 


TRINITY   SUNDAY. 


let  all  the  earth  be  silent  before  him,  and  castinor  away  their 
unbelief,  submit  themselves  to  "receive  with  meekness  the 
engrafted  word,  which  is  able  to  save  their  souls." 

Tiiis  being  undeniabh''  the  duty  of  every  reasonable  being, 
as  to  religion  in  general,  it  is  equally  so  as  to  any  particular 
doctrine  of  religion.  In  truth — and  I  mention  it  as  a  general 
caution,  and  as  the  very  first  point  whicli  should  be  settled 
by  every  individual,  in  regard  to  religion — tiie  previous 
question  as  to  the  parts,  as  well  as  to  the  whole  of  religion, 
is,  hath  God  revealed  it?  If  he  hath,  there  ought  to  be  no 
question  as  to  the  fitness  or  reasonableness  of  any  particular 
doctrine,  as  the  ground  of  our  reception  of  it.  Faith  springs 
not  from,  neither  rests  upon,  reason,  but  from,  and  upon, 
divine  authority;  and  whatever  in  religion  is  not  built  upon 
this  foundation,  is  built  upon  the  sand.  Reason  may  examine 
the  fact  of  a  revelation,  or  not,  which  is  its  proper  province 
— reason  may  strive,  within  its  proper  and  guarded  limits, 
to  apprehend  the  deep  things  of  God,  and  to  apply  them  to 
the  attainment  of  clearer  views  of  his  glorious  perfections, 
which  is  its  noblest  exercise — and  reason  may  enforce  the 
obligation  and  the  interest  of  its  possessor,  to  embrace  the 
truth  of  God,  as  God  hath  revealed  it,  as  the  only  light  of 
the  soul,  which  constitutes  reason  the  high  and  distinguishing 
privilege  of  our  nature.  But  with  the  mysteries  of  religion, 
with  "the  secret  things  which  belong  to  the  Lord  our  God," 
reason  meddles  at  its  highest  peril,  and  risks  making  ship- 
wreck of  the  faith.  For  they  are  therefore  mysteries,  because 
they  are  above  our  reason,  beyond  any  possible  enlargement 
or  exercise  of  that  faculty,  in  our  present  state  of  being,  are 
to  be  discerned  by  faith  only,  and  comprehended  by  a  higher 
and  different  grade  of  intellectual  progression. 

To  bring  the  mysteries  of  godliness  to  this  tribunal,  then, 
is  a  daring  presumption  of  the  carnal  mind,  and  effectually 
shuts  men  out  from  that  knowledge  of  them,  which  is  prac- 
tical and  profitable  to  the  entrance  and  increase  of  true 
religion  in  the  heart.  And  as  this  is  experimentally  true,  as 
respects  this  abuse  of  religious  mysteries  in  general,  those 
who  give  into  it  remaining  dead  to  God,  and  strangers  to  his 
renewing  grace;  so  is  it  emphatically  true  of  those  unhappy 
persons  who  are  seduced    with   "great   swelling  word&  of 


TRINITY    SUNDAY.  381 

vanity,"  to  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  in  unity,  as  the 
mode  of  being  in  the  divine  nature,  because  it  is  contrary  to 
reason,  say  some,  because  it  is  incomprehensible,  say  others. 
But  when  reason  can  develope  the  mysteries  of  the  natural 
world,  wliich  it  knowingly  acts  upon,  though  uncomprehended, 
and  thereby  both  receives  and  gives  the  proof  that  they  are 
not  contrary"  to  reason,  let  it  take  up  this  objection  to  the 
high  mystery  of  the  manner  of  subsistence  in  the  godhead  of 
Jehovali,  our  revealed  Almighty  Cause  of  all  other  beinor. 
"When  reason  can  comprehend  its  own  mode  of  being,  how 
soul,  body,  and  spirit  yet  form  but  one  man,  let  it  venture  to 
question  upon  any  grounds  the  mode  of  subsistence  in  its 
Creator,  as  revealed  by  himself,  and  let  the  broad  and  pal- 
pable atheism  of  the  objection  banish  it  for  ever  from  the 
realms  of  Christian  light.  For  without  controversy,  if  its 
being  incomprehensible  to  reason  is  a  good  objection  to  the 
belief  of  God,  as  subsisting  under  a  particular  mode  of  being, 
it  is  equally  good  against  his  subsisting  at  all,  it  being  just 
as  impossible  for  reason  to  comprehend  an  eternal,  underived, 
spiritual  essence,  in  the  mode,  or  manner  of  his  subsistence, 
whatever  that  may  be.  The  mode  of  Being  in  Deity,  there- 
fore, must  of  necessity  be  matter  of  direct  revelation — and  to 
this  let  reason  in  man  submit  itself — not  replying  against  God. 

II.  Secondly,  I  am  to  point  out  to  you  the  confirmation 
given  to  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity,  by  the  different  facts 
uientioned  in  the  text,  and  which  together  form  the  mystery 
of  godliness. 

"God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh."  That  the  apostle  here 
refers  to  the  incarnation  of  the  second  person  in  the  trinity 
of  tiie  godhead,  as  revealed  and  set  forth  in  the  gospel,  must 
be  evident  from  those  various  passages  of  Scripture  which 
refer  to  the  same  event.  The  original  promise  to  fallen  man 
was,  that  "the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  serpent's 
head."  To  this,  as  its  leading  object,  the  providence  of  God 
in  the  government  of  the  world,  and  the  whole  system  of  rev- 
elation and  prophecy  in  the  Old  Testament  Church,  was  di- 
rected. Jacob  prophecied  that  Shiloh  should  come,  and 
that  unto  him  should  be  the  gathering  of  the  people.  Moses 
prophecied  to  the  children  of  Israel,  "a  prophet  shall  the 
Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto  you  of  your  brethren,  like  unto 


S82  TRINITY    SUNDAY. 

iiic:  him  •shall  3'e  hear."  Isaiah  gave  notice,  "Behold  a  vir- 
u^'iw  sliall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name 
Immanuel,"  wliich  St.  Matthew  interprets  to  mean  "God 
with  us,"  or  in  our  nature.  "Yea,  and  all  the  prophets,  as 
many  as  have  spoken,  have  testified  of  him." 

In  fulfilment  of  these  predictions,  the  inspired  writers  of 
the  New  Testament  unite  in  declaring,  "that  when  the  ful- 
ness of  the  time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a 
M'oman,  that  he  who  was  in  the  form  of  God,  and  thought  it 
not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  was  found  in  the  likeness  of 
man — that  He  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  forever  as  con- 
cerning the  flesh,  came  of  the  seed  of  David — that  the  word, 
which  was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  which  was  God,  the 
«ame  w'as  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."  This  is  such 
'dear  and  decisive  testimony  as  to  what  was  in  the  mind  of 
the  apostle  when  he  made  the  declaration  in  my  text,  that 
■^'GoD  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  that  no  reasonable  doubt 
can  be  entertained,  that  he  meant  to  assert  that  a  divine  per- 
son took  our  nature  upon  him,  and  appeared  in  the  world, 
according  to  the  predictions  going  before  concerning  him, 
and  consequently  that  St.  Paul,  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  believed  and  taught  a  plurality  of  persons  in  the  unity 
of  the  godhead.  In  further  confirmation  of  this  point,  I 
would  direct  your  attention  to  some  declarations  of  our  Lord 
himself,  which  on  any  otiier  supposition  than  that  of  his 
divinity,  are  irreconcilable  with  the  truth  and  integrity  of  his 
character. 

In  order  to  give  his  immediate  disciples  a  clear  view  of  his 
person  and  office,  he  told  them,  "I  came  forth  from  the  father, 
and  am  come  into  the  world" — again,  "I  leave  the  world  and 
go  to  the  Father;"  which  is  in  perfect  agreement  with  the 
pre-existence  of  Christ,  and  with  the  fact,  as  predicted  and 
fulfilled  in  the  mission  of  the  Son  of  God.  Again,  in  the 
affecting  prayer  which  he  uttered  before  he  went  into  the 
garden  to  encounter  his  passion,  he  made  this  petition — 
"And  now  O  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self, 
with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was." 
Now  liere  is  a  pre-existent  state  of  glory  with  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  asserted  to  exist  before  the  creation  of  things,  and 
that  by  a  plurality  of  persons,  which  is  not  conceivable  of 


TKINITr    SUNDAY.  383 

any  created  being,  without  a  force  of  construction  wbicii  de- 
feats all  certainty  of  meaning  in  the  use  of  language.  Once 
more,  "Philip  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  show  us  the  Father,  and 
it  sufficeth  us.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  He  that  hath  seen  me 
liath  seen  the  Father" — whicii  could  not  be  true  in  the  sense 
in  which  Philip  put  the  question,  unless  in  very  truth,  He 
who  was  thus  manifest  in  the  flesh  was  very  God.  And  here 
again  we  have  a  plurality  of  persons  asserted  in  the  godhead. 
And  again,  "I  and  my  Father  are  one,"  says  the  Saviour. 
Now,  the  context  informs  us,  that  this  declaration  was  made, 
of  equality  of  power  with  the  Father.  The  question  between 
our  Lord  and  the  JeM^s  at  the  time  was,  as  to  his  being  the 
CiiKisT,  the  expected  Messiah.  Of  this  he  told  them  they 
had  sufficient  proof,  but  would  not  believe,  because  they  were 
not  of  his  sheep.  "My  sheep  hear  my  voice,"  says  he,  "and 
I  give  unto  them  eternal  life — neither  shall  any  man  pluck 
them  out  of  my  hand. — My  Father  which  gave  tliem  me 
is  greater  than  all:  and  no  man  is  able  to  pluck  them  out  of 
my  Father's  hand. — I  and  my  Father  ai'e  one."  But  equality 
of  power  must  include  equality  of  nature,  and  by  conse(pience, 
a  pluralit}'^  of  persons  in  the  subsistence  of  Deity.  "God  was 
justified  in  the  spirit."  The  expression  is  technical,  and 
means,  that  the  person  here  spoken  of  was  authoritatively 
declared  and  certified,  as  to  his  nature  and  office,  by  tlie 
visible  testimony  of  the  Holt  Ghost,  according  to  that  ex- 
pression of  John  the  Baptist,  "he  that  hath  the  bride  is  the 
bridegroom."  The  person  thus  justified,  and  here  declared 
to  be  God,  was  undoubtedly  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  this 
justification  consisted  in  his  miraculous  concej)tion  by  the 
Holy  Ghost;  in  the  visible  descent  of  the  Spirit  upon  him 
at  his  baptism;  in  the  miracles  wherewith  he  attested  his 
mission;  in  his  resurrection  from  the  dead;  and  in  the  eff'usion 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  his  disciples,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost; 
by  all  which,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  was  declared  "to  be  the 
Son  of  God  with  power;"  that  is,  certified  to  be  a  divine  per- 
son, even  "God  manifest  in  the  flesh."  Many  individuals  in 
this  world  liave  in  like  manner  been  justified  by  the  Spirit, 
as  the  messenger  of  God,  to  their  fellow  sinners;  but  neither 
in  measure  or  in  manner  as  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Li  tiiem 
it  was  limited  and  controlled,  by  the  power  whicli  bestowed 


884  TKINITY   SUNDAY. 

the  gift;  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  the  fuhiess  of  the  godhead 
dwelt  bodily,  and  the  Spirit  without  measure.  They  spake 
and  acted  in  the  name  of  him  who  sent  them.  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  spake  and  acted  in  liis  own  name,  as  one  having 
authority,  absolute  and  irresistible,  over  both  the  natural  and 
the  spiritual  world;  and  as  the  Spirit,  by  which  the  prophets 
and  apostles  were  actuated,  and  justified  to  men,  is  expressly 
called  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  was  derived  from  him  to 
them,  the  Spirit  by  which  Christ  is  here  said  to  be  justified 
by  God,  must  be  inherent,  nnderived,  and  his  property  as  a 
member  of  the  godhead. 

"God  was  seen  of  angels.  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time."  From  the  nature  and  properties  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  he  is  and  must  be  invisible  to  the  highest  created  in- 
telligences. He  who  fiilleth  immensity  and  all  space,  cannot 
be  circumscribed  by  a  visible  form  or  shape.  The  blessed 
angels  do  indeed  behold  the  face  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  as 
it  is  expressed  in  Scripture;  but  this  denotes  neither  shape 
nor  similitude,  but  their  nearness  to  that  glory  and  bright- 
ness of  his  presence,  in  which  they  contemplate  and  adore 
his  perfections,  and  from  which  they  derive  those  supplies  of 
unspeakable  bliss,  which  constitute  the  happiness  of  Heaven. 
In  what  sense,  then,  was  "God  seen  of  angels?"  In  that 
sense,  and  no  other,  in  which,  by  taking  our  nature  upon 
him,  he  became  visible  to  angels  and  to  men;  and  he  is  here 
said  to  be  seen  of  angels  particularly,  because,  as  they  had 
a  higher  perception  of  the  divine  nature,  so  had  they  a  clearer 
insight  into  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation.  But  what  divine 
person  took  our  nature  upon  him?  The  only  begotten  Son, 
who  left  the  bosom  of  his  Father,  emptied  himself  of  his  es- 
sential glory  for  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation  came  down 
from  Heaven,  and  "was  found  in  fashion  as  a  man."  God, 
then,  was  seen  of  angels,  in  the  manger  of  the  infant  Jesus 
at  Bethlehem;  at  the  close  of  his  temptation  in  the  wilder- 
ness; during  his  passion  in  Gethsemane;  they  witnessed  his 
triumphant  resurrection,  and  accompanied  his  glorious  as- 
cension into  his  heavenly  dominions.  The  person  thus  seen 
of  angels,  is  declared  by  St.  Paul  to  be  God;  but  Jesus  Christ, 
and  none  other,  was  thus  seen  of  angels.  Jesus  Christ,  there- 
fore, is  God, 


TRINITY   SUNDAY.  385 

"God  was  preached  unto  the  Gentiles."  The  history  of  the 
gospel,  and  our  own  condition,  my  brethren,  is  sufficient 
proof  of  the  fact.  But  it  is  declared  to  be  a  mystery,  how 
this  became  possible,  consistent  with  the  honor  of  God;  and 
this  mystery  can  be  cleared  up  no  otherwise  than  by  refer- 
ring to  the  satisfaction  made  by  the  death  of  Christ,  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world,  to  the  reconciliation  thereby  effected 
between  God  and  man,  and  to  the  offers  of  pardon  and  grace, 
commanded  to  be  made  to  all  nations,  on  the  conditions  of 
the  covenant  ratified  in  his  blood.  Hence  we  read,  that 
"God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  not  im- 
puting their  trespasses  unto  them;"  and  the  offers  of  the 
gospel,  being  made  to  men  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  being 
limited  on  the  condition  of  faith  in  tlie  name  of  Christ,  and 
witnessed  and  made  effectual  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  as  the 
Church  is  the  body  of  Christ,  and  believers  the  members  of 
Christ,  the  whole  dispensation  is  called  the  kingdom  of 
Christ;  and  hence  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  preach- 
ing Christ,  are  expressions  of  the  same  import  in  Scripture. 
Thus  we  read,  that  "Philip  went  down  to  Samaria,  and 
preached  Christ  unto  them" — that  St.  Paul  determined  to 
know  nothing  among  the  Corinthians,  "but  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified."  Hence  he  calls  the  gospel  "the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ,"  "the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  the 
"grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salvation."  And  as  the  whole 
liistory  of  the  gospel  proves  that  Christ  was  and  is  the  sum 
and  substance  of  all  sound  preaching,  therefore,  as  Christ 
was  what  "was  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,"  Christ  is  God, 
by  a  testimony  as  wide  as  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

"God  was  believed  on  in  the  world."  The  triumphs  of 
the  name  of  Christ  over  the  gods  of  superstition,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  gospel  upon  the  ruin  of  the  profane  reli- 
gions of  the  world,  is  the  standing  demonstration  of  his  divine 
power,  who  said  to  his  first  ministers,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  That  a  self-denying 
religion,  at  war  M'ith  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  the  vanitiA 
of  the  world,  with  invisible  rewards  and  visible  sufferings, 
should  have  been  embraced  and  followed  by  the  darkness 
and  depravity  to  which  it  was  preached,  is  a  mystery  which 
can  be  solved  only  by  the  deity  of  its  Author,  The  reception 
[Vol.  1,— *26,] 


886  TEIKITY    SUNDAY. 

of  Christ  as  God,  exalted  his  doctrine  above  tlie  morality  of 
the  schools,  and  gave  power  to  liis  word  superior  to  all  the 
wisdom  of  the  world.  The  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
this  trutli,  in  the  preaching  of  liis  ministers,  confirmed  their 
doctrine  as  from  God,  and  the  fruits  of  faith  in  the  lives  of 
believers,  spread  over  the  world  the  knowledge  and  the 
power  of  that  "name  Avhich  is  above  every  name."  "Believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  was  the 
message  of  life  and  hope  to  awakened  sinners,  and  as  Christ 
was  preached  to  them  as  "the  only  name  under  heaven"  by 
which  this  could  be  effected,  he  M'as  believed  on  and  trusted 
in  as  the  God  of  their  salvation;  and  wherever  the  gospel  has 
been  established,  this  doctrine  has  been  received  as  afunda- 
.  mental  truth  of  our  holy  religion,  that  the  same  Christ  which 
w'as  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  believed  on  in  the 
world,  is  "God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever." 

"God  was  received  up  into  glory" — but  he  must  first  have 
left  or  surrendered  his  glory,  otherwise  he  could  not  have 
been  received  again  to  it;  and  as  this  is  true  only  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  it  is  an  unanswerable  declaration  of  the  inhe- 
rent divinity  of  his  nature— for  thus  this  same  apostle  argues 
in  another  place,  from  our  Lord's  ascension:  "Now  that  he 
ascended,  what  is  it  but  that  he  also  descended  first  into  the 
lower  parts  of  the  earth?  lie  that  descended  is  the  same 
also  that  ascended  up  far  above  all  heavens,  that  he  might 
fill  all  things."  He  who  had  glory  with  the  father,  before 
the  world  was,  came  into  the  world,  and  having  finished  the 
work  of  our  redemption,  again  ascended  up  where  he  was 
before;  circumstances,  which  as  they  can  be  affirmed  of  no 
created  being,  but  are  literally  true  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
so  are  they  conclusive  as  to  the  divinity  ascribed  to  his 
nature,  and  are  asserted  by  himself  as  proofs  of  this  doctrine, 
in  his  conversation  with  Nicodemus:  "And  no  man  hath 
ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven, 
even  the  Son  of  man  which  is  in  heaven." 

tEach  separate  fact  then,  mentioned  in  the  text,  being  thus 
3ar  and  conclusive  for  our  Lord's  divine  nature,  the  amount 
of  the  whole,  taken  together,  presents  such  a  confirmation 
of  the  catholic  faith,  as  to  this  fundamental  doctrine,  as  can- 
not sincerely  and  honestly  be  withstood. 


TRINITY    SUNDAY.  o87 

III.  Thirdly,  I  am  to  sliow  you  the  conuexion  between  the 
belief  of  this  doctrine  and  practical  religion,  or  personal 
godliness. 

The  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  has  a  favorable 
influence  on  personal  religion,  inasmuch  as  it  involves  the 
divinity  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
If  sin  is  of  that  malignant  nature  that  nothing  less  than  the 
death  of  the  Son  of  God  could  expiate  its  guilt,  and  obtain 
remission  for  sinners,  the  strongest  of  all  arguments  is  hereby 
presented  against  continuing  under  its  power,  and  the  high- 
est  of  all  iiiducements  held  out,  in  the  love  of  God  and  the 
merits  of  Christ,  to  bring  sinners  to  repentance  and  amended 
'life.  And  if  tlie  infection  of  our  nature,  by  the  poison  of 
sin,  is  so  deep  and  radical  that  nothing  short  of  divine  power 
can  extract  it,  and  nothing  lower  than  divine  assistance 
enable  us  to  contend  with  its  deceits,  and  overcome  its  in- 
fluence, the  encouragement  derived  from  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
this  very  end,  is  beyond  all  expression.  Indeed  so  ample, 
so  suitable,  and  so  effectual,  k  the  provision  made  for  our 
recovery  to  God  under  the  Christian  system,  of  acceptance, 
by  the  Father,  through  atonement  by  the  Son,  and  sanctifi- 
cation  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  persons  concerned  jointly  and 
separately  in  bringing  us  to  salvation,  that  it  must  be  wholly 
our  own  fault  if  we  fail  of  the  grace  of  God, 

Again,  if  we  are  to  be  judged  hereafter,  and  rewarded  or 
punished  according  to  our  works,  it  is  a  most  consoling 
thought,  even  to  the  holiest  of  men,  that  he  who  is  appointed 
the  jndge  of  quick  and  dead,  is  the  same  who,  in  the  truth 
of  our  nature,  encountered  all  its  temptations — who  therefore 
has  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  and  who  knows  how  to  have 
compassion  on  the  ignorant,  and  on  them  that  were  out  of 
the  way.  To  take  him  as  our  Saviour,  secures  his  mercy  as 
our  judge.  And  if  holiness  is  indispensable  to  happiness 
with  God,  the  blessed  assurance,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
given  to  change  and  renew  the  heart — to  shed  abroad  the 
love  of  God  in  our  souls,  and  transform  us  into  the  divine 
image  and  nature — is  calculated  to  stir  up  every  faculty  of 
eoul  and  body,  to  be  workers  together  with  God  for  the  prize 
of  our  high  calling.  To  believe  a  work  to  be  possible  is  the 
first  step  to  exertion— to  have  the  means  of  performing  it 


388  TfimiTY   SUNDAY. 

provided,  encourages  to  begin — and  to  be  sure  of  success,  if 
we  faithfully  apply  the  means,  leads  to  diligence  in  duty. 
Now  all  this  is  found  in  the  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  a  trinity 
of  persons  in  the  unity  of  the  godhead,  engaged  in  carrying 
on  the  plan  of  our  salvation;  and  no  where  else  can  it  be 
found.  Discard  this  doctrine,  and  sin  immediately  loses  the 
malignity  of  its  nature,  man  is  no  longer  the  fallen,  sinful 
creature  who  has  no  hope  in  himself;  atouement  is  needless 
and  grace  superfluous — reason  can  perform  the  office  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  man's  righteousness  abide  the  scrutiny  of 
God's  judgment.  Heaven  is  the  reward,  not  of  grace,  but 
of  debt,  and  eternal  life  the  retribution  of  justice,  not  the 
gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Cheist  our  Loed. 

As  the  provisions  of  God's  wisdom  and  love  are  only 
sought  and  valued  by  men  in  proportion  as  they  believe  and 
feel  the  want  and  misery  of  their  state  by  natm'e,  you  can 
all  judge,  my  hearers,  of  the  effect  likely  to  be  produced  on 
the  heart  of  man  by  opposite  systems  of  doctrine;  one  of 
which  presents  to  his  faith  and  hope,  the  love  and  the  might 
of  omnipotence  in  the  trinity  of  the  Godhead,  engaged  for 
lii&  recovery  and  salvation,  through  a  divine  atonement  for 
the  guilt  of  sin,  and  supernatural  assistance  to  overcome  its- 
powers;  and  the  other,  which  leaves  him  with  human  means 
only  to  perfect  himself  for  the  presence  of  God,  and  claim 
eternal  life  upon  his  own  merits,  without  a  Saviour,  who  is 
God  as  well  as  man,  without  a  sanctifier,  who  is  God  the 
Holy  Ghost.  From  which  of  these,  then,  the  righteousness- 
of  faith  is  most  likely  to  spring,  and  personal  godliness,  that 
holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Loed,  to  be 
sought  and  attained,  sinners — judge  ye. 

Now  to  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  three  persons  in  one  God,  be  ascribed  glory,  honor^ 
and  salvation,  now  and  ever,  world  without  end.    Amen.. 


SEKMON  XII. 


ORDINATION,    OR   INSTITCTION, 


1  Thessalonians  v.  25. 
"Brethren,  pray  for  us." 

If  an  inspired  apostle  found  it  profitable  to  request  the 
prayers  of  the  Churches  which  he  had  planted,  much  iiKjre 
must  it  be  needful  to  the  Christian  ministry  at  this  day,  that 
prayer  should  be  offered  up  to  God,  by  the  congregations  to 
whom  they  minister,  that  their  labore  be  not  in  vain. 

Much  more  is  it  required  of  us,  Avho  are  deprived  of  tliose 
extraordinary  displays  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  with 
M'hich  the  apostles  were  favored,  earnestly  to  pray,  that  his  • 
ordinarj^  and  continual  assistance  may  be  granted  us,  both 
to  speak  and  to  hear,  to  edification.  And  how  much  the 
more  ought  your  poor  servant — when  taking  upon  himself 
the  charge  of  your  spiritual  concerns — to  address  you  in  the 
words  of  the  apostle — •"Brethren,  pray  for  us." 

Arduous  is  the  task,  to  stand  between  the  living  and  the 
dead — 'to  check  and  stay  the  plague  of  sin — ^to  watch  over 
the  welfare  of  immortal  souls — to  conflict  with  the  powers  of 
darkness — with  all  the  varied  and  multiplied  arts  of  the 
crafty  enemy  of  God  and  man — with  spiritual  wickedness  in 
high  places — and  with  what  I  believe  to  be  more  difficult 
than  all,  the  inherent  depravity  of,  the  human  heart. 

How  needful,  then,  my  brethren,  that  both  minister  and 
people  should  so  feel  the  deep  importance  of  the  ministerial 
oflices,  as  to  be  drawn  out  in  frequent  and  fervent  prayer  to 
Almighty  God,  for  that  blessing  upon  his  word  preached, 
which  shall  make  it  profitable  to  their  immortal  souls.  Paul 
may  plant  and  Apollos  may  water,  but  without  help  from 
God  there  can  be  no  increase — ^and  the  very  appointment 
and  privilege  of  prayer,  involves  the  duty  of  its  exercise,  if 
we  would  obtain  si)iritual  benefit,  for  prayer  is  the  expres- 
sion of  desire  to  God.     If,  therefore,  there  be  no  private  in- 


390  OKDINATION,    OR   INSTITUTTOIir. 

tercession  with  God,  on  the  part  of  a  Christian  congregation, 
for  guidance  and  direction  from  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  their 
minister,  and  for  his  blessed  influences  on  their  own  hearts, 
in  favor  of  divine  truth,  it  is  surely  too  phain  evidence,  that 
no  sincere  desire  is  felt  for  religious  attainment.  And  hence 
it  comes  to  pass,  that  the  word  preached  doth  not  proiit  them, 
as  we  see  so  awfully  exemplifled  in  the  existing  condition  of 
the  Christian  world — wherein  many  are  hearers  of  the  word, 
while  but  few  indeed  are  doers  thereof.  I^ow,  whether  in- 
difference on  the  subject  of  religion  be  the  cause  or  the  effect 
of  the  neglect  of  the  duty  of  prayer  in  general,  and  of  this 
particular  exercise  of  supplication  to  God,  the  event  is  the 
same;  for  in  things  moral  and  spiritual,  the  concurrence  of 
our  own  will  and  desire,  as  well  as  the  exertions  of  our  re- 
spective abilities,  must  accompany  the  operations  of  divine 
grace.  God,  indeed,  worketh  in  us,  both  to  will  and  to  do, 
and  for  that  very  reason  requires  us  to  work  out  our  own 
salvation;  and  as  the  ministerial  office  is  a  prominent  ai> 
pointment  of  the  wisdom  of  God  to  this  great  end,  it  should 
ever  be  the  subject  of  fervent  intercession  with  God,  by  every 
serious  Christian,  on  the  joint  consideration  of  duty  and 
interest.  For  your  own  spiritual  advantage,  then,  and  for 
my  help  in  the  charge  to  which  you  liave  called  me — for  the 
revival  of  religion,  and  for  the  increase  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  I  beseech  you,  my  brethren,  "pray  for  us." 

But,  as  the  understanding,  as  well  as  the  spirit  is  reqmred 
in  the  office  of  prayer,  grant  me  your  attention,  while  I  en- 
deavor to  lay  before  you  some  of  those  high  and  solemn 
duties  which  peculiarly  belong  to  the  gospel  ministiy:  vari- 
ously described,  and  under  differing,  though  very  opposite 
emblems,  pointed  out  to  us  in  the  Scriptures. 

While  man  continued  in  that  holy  and  happy  state  in 
which  he  was  placed  at  his  creation,  we  read  of  no  offices  of 
devotion,  no  sacrifices,  no  oblations;  the  whole  man,  both  soul 
and  body,  being  pure  and  holy,  was  an  acceptable  offering 
— a  living  sacrilice — a  perfect  oblation,  to  his  Maker.  But 
"when  this  blessed  condition  was  forfeited  through  disobe- 
■dience,  immediately  we  find  sacrifice  and  offering,  and  with 
them  the  offices  of  devotion  appointed.  "VYe  read,  however, 
of  no  priesthood,  none  specially  set  apart  to  minister  in  holy 


ORDINATION,    OR    INSTITUTION.  391 

tilings,  and  to  act  as  the  medium  of  communication  between 
God  and  his  creatures;  neither  do  we  hear  of  assemblies  for 
the  public  worshijj  of  Jehovah;  but  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe,  that  every  family  composed  its  own  Church,  and  the 
head  thereof  officiated  as  priest.  Tliis  state  of  things,  as  re- 
garded religion,  continued  before  and  after  the  deluge,  for  a 
period  of  twenty -four  hundred  years. 

But  when  it  pleased  God,  in  fullilment  of  his  promise  to 
our  first  parents,  to  select  Abraham  as  the  stock  from  which, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  Messiah,  the  Prince,  sliould  spring — 
and  when,  after  many  very  wonderful  displays  of  his  power 
and  providence,  tlie  posterity  of  Abraham,  delivered  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  were  gathered  together  in  the  wilderness 
— then  do  we  first  read  of  the  altar,  and  the  continual  burnt 
ofiering  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  the  mercy  seat  above 
it,  A\'ith  all  the  splendid,  yet  typical  furniture  of  the  taber- 
nacle, or  place  of  public  worship.  Then,  also,  do  we  first 
read  of  a  particular  family,  selected  from  the  tribes  to  min- 
ister in  the  sanctuary,  in  their  different  orders,  and  favored 
with  Urim  and  Thuunnim — that  is,  with  light  and  perfection 
— set  apart  to  burn  tiie  incense  of  morning  and  evening  sup- 
plication, to  declare  the  will  of  heaven  to  the  congregation, 
and  make  daily  atonement  for  the  shis  of  the  people. 

And  when  it  further  pleased  him,  as  the  time  drew  near 
for  the  fulfilment  of  his  promise,  to  send  his  servants,  the 
prophets,  to  warn  his  chosen  people,  to  reprove  their  back- 
slidings,  and  rebuke  their  rebellions,  to  make  clearer  dis- 
coveries of  the  gospel  dispensation,  obscurely  shadowed 
out  in  the  ceremonial  law  and  the  services  of  the  temple, 
then  begins  to  open  upon  us,  with  clearer  light,  the  high  re- 
sponsibility and  sacred  nature  of  the  ministerial  service  of  God. 

Hear  the  appointment  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel — "Son  of 
man,  I  have  made  thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel, 
therefore  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and  give  them  warn- 
ing from  me — when  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  thou  slialt  surely 
die,  and  thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn 
the  wicked  from  his  wicked  way  to  save  his  life;  the  same 
wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity;  but  his  blood  will  I  re- 
quire at  thy  hand.  Yet  if  thou  warn  the  wicked,  and  he 
turn  not  from  his  wickedness,  nor  from  his  wicke<l  way,  he 


392  ORDINATION,    OR   INSTITUTION. 

sliall  die  in  his  iniquity,  but  thou  hast  cleHvered  thy  souh 
Again  when  a  righteous  man  dotli  turn  from  his  righteous- 
ness, and  commit  iniquity,  and  I  lay  a  stumbling  block  be- 
fore him,  he  shall  die;  because  thou  hast  not  given  him  warn- 
ing, he  shall  die  in  his  siu,  and  his  righteousness  which  he 
hath  done  shall  not  be  remembered:  but  his  blood  will  I  re- 
quire at  thy  hand.  Nevertheless,  if  thou  warn  the  righteous 
man,  that  the  righteous  sin  not,  and  he  doth  not  sin,  he  shall 
surely  live,  because  he  is  warned;  also,  thou  hast  delivered 
thy  soul."  Awful  appointment  indeed!  Well  may  we  ex- 
claim, "who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?"  And  earnestly  do 
we  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  join  us  in  prayer,  that  a  full 
measure  of  the  grace  of  God  may  be  afforded  us. 

Hear  also  the  evangelical  watchman,  Isaiah.  Inquiry  is 
made  respecting  his  office — "Watchman,  what  of  the  night? 
Watchman,  what  of  the  night?"  Hear  also  his  reply.  "The 
morning  cometh,  and  also  the  night;  if  ye  will  inquire,  in- 
quire ye;  return;  come."  The  very  message,  my  hearers, 
yea  almost  the  very  words,  of  the  gospel.  The  morning  of 
the  resurrection  is  fast  approaching;  the  night  of  despair  and 
darkness  also  cometh.  Inquire,  search  diligently;  "return  to 
the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  you.  Come  unto  me 
and  be  saved  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth.  He  that  hath  ears  to 
hear  let  him  hear."  Hear  the  warning  voice  of  your  watch- 
man this  day,  and  pray  for  him,  that  he  may  always  be 
found  at  his  post,  vigilant,  ready,  and  profitable  to  his  hearers. 

But  it  is  to  the  New  Testament  dispensation  that  we  must 
more  particularly  look,  for  the  designations  of  the  Christian 
ministry.  Accordingly,  in  the  very  first  discourse  of  our 
blessed  Lord  to  his  disciples,  he  addresses  them  as  "the  salt 
of  the  earth,"  as  "the  light  of  the  world." 

"The  salt  of  the  earth" — As  having  those  doctrines  com- 
mitted to  their  charge,  by  which  the  corruptions  of  our  fallen 
nature  may  be  arrested,  the  health  of  the  soul  restored,  man 
renewed  after  the  image  of  him  who  created  him,  and  fitted 
for  that  state  of  never  ending  happiness,  prepared  for  the 
righteous  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  "The  light  of  the  world" 
— As  commissioned  to  declare  to  those  who  sat  in  darkness  and 
the  shadow  of  death,  the  terms  of  the  new  covenant  of  peace 
and  reconciliation.     In  subsequent  communicatio-us  he  ad- 


ORDIXATION,    OK   mSTITUTlbN.  393 

dresses  them  as  stewards,  as  shepherds,  and  last  of  all  as 
j)reacliers  and  teachers.  To  each  of  these  designations  ap- 
Ijropriate  duties  and  obligations  are  annexed. 

As  stewards — In  this  branch  of  om-  office,  it  is  required 
that  we  shall  Lave  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  supplies 
provided  in  the  spiritual  treasury  of  God's  word,  for  the  sup- 
])ort  and  comfort  of  the  household  and  family  of  Christ.  Li- 
iinite,  almost,  is  the  variety  of  condition,  both  in  sinful  de- 
basement and  spiritual  attainment,  among  mankind;  equally 
varied  and  extensive  are  the  stores  of  instruction  and  rebuke, 
of  exhortation  and  edification,  contained  in  the  sacred  scrip- 
tures of  our  faith.  To  the  unbelieving,  impenitent,  and  un- 
godly, the  terrors  of  the  Lord  are  to  be  denounced;  to  the 
humble,  contrite,  broken  hearted  sinner,  the  comforts  of  the 
gospel,  of  the  grace  of  God,  are  to  be  administered;  and  to 
the  obedient  persevering  believer,  the  assurances  of  glory 
and  immortality  and  eternal  life  are  to  be  held  full  in  view. 
It  is  moreover  required  of  stewards^  even  in  temporal  things, 
iJiat  a  man  he  found  faithful j  how  much  more  then  in  those 
to  whose  care  are  committed  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
•Christ,  must  faithfulness  abound.  Pray  for  us,  dear  breth- 
ren, that  as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God,  we 
may  so  fulfil  our  trust,  that  when  called  to  render  an  account 
of  our  stewardship,  we  may  do  it  witli  joy  and  not  with  grief. 

As  shepherds — Perhaps  no  comparison  is  more  frequent  in 
the  scriptures  (I  am  sure  none  can  be  more  descriptive)  than 
this,  of  the  people  of  God  to  a  flock  of  sheep;  and  that  flock 
scattered  by  the  violence  of  an  enemy;  wandering,  weary 
and  fainting,  without  a  guide  to  direct  them  back  to  the  fold. 
Peculiarly  applicable  was  it  to  that  period  of  time,  when  our 
blessed  Lord  declared  himself  the  shepherd  of  the  sheep. 
And  as  it  was  prophecied,  that  he  should  "feed  his  flock  like 
a  shepherd,  gatliering  the  lambs  Avith  his  arms,  carrying 
them  in  his  bosom,  and  gently  leading  tliose  tliat  are  with 
young,"  so  in  event  was  it  fulfilled  by  lilm,  who  came  "to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  -was  lost;  who  went  about  doiug 
good;  seeking  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israeh'"  "With 
this  designation  of  our  office,  he  hath  left  us  tlie  briglit  ox- 
ample  of  his  labor,  patience,  and  unwearied  diligence  in  the 
discharge  of  duty.     "We  are  exhorted  accordingly  by  his 


394  ORDINATION,    OR   INSTITUTION. 

apostles,  particularly  by  the  apostle  Peter,  to  "feed  the  flock 
of  God  which  is  among  us,  taking  the  oversight  thereof;  not 
by  constraint,  but  willingly,  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a 
ready  mind;  neither  as  being  lords  over  God's  heritage,  but 
being  ensamples  to  the  flock."  And  with  strict  propriety 
does  this  exhortation  come  from  him,  to  whom  was  thrice 
emphatically  connnitted  the  charge  of  feeding  the  lambs  and 
sheep  of  his  divine  master.  "Pray  for  us,"  then,  dear  brethren, 
that  in  the  labor  of  love,  patience  of  liope,  and  diligence  of 
duty,  we  may  be  unwearied,  ever  abounding  in  the  work  of 
our  Lord  and  master;  feeding  his  lambs  with  the  sincere  milk 
of  tlie  word,  and  his  sheep  with  the  nourishing  food  of  the 
bread  of  life.  "Pray  for  us,"  ti>at  tliose  who  have  strayed 
from  the  fold  may  hear  the  voice  which  calleth  them  to  re- 
turn to  the  shepherd  and  bishop  of  their  souls.  That  there 
may  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd,  one  flock  and  one  accla- 
mation of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  to  him  thatsitteth  on  the 
throne  and  to  the  Lamb  forever. 

As  preachers  and  teachers — Hear  the  words  of  our  com- 
mission. "All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,''  saith  our  blessed  Lord.  "Go  ye  therefore  into  all 
the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature;  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you."  My  hearers,  can  a  commission  be  couched  in  more 
comprehensive  terms?  Can  human  ingenuity  devise  lan- 
guage more  inclusive  and  general  in  its  expression?  I  think 
not;  and  understanding  it  as  I  do,  unclogged  with  any  secret 
degree  of  preterition,  or  absolute  reprobation,  it  is  not  only 
my  duty  but  my  delight,  to  ofl'er  the  grace  and  mercy  of  the 
gospel  to  all  men;  and  to  obey  the  gracious  commandment, 
that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached 
among  all  nations,  in  his  name,  "who  by  tlie  grace  of  God 
tasted  Death  for  q\qx^^  man."  This  is  the  true  gospel  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  the  "glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to 
all  people." 

"With  this  message  of  love  committed  to  us,  how  diligent 
ought  we  to  be,  in  following  the  bright  example  of  our  divine 
master,  who  early  and  late,  in  public  and  in  private,  in  the 
temple,  in  the  synagogue,  on  the  mountain,  on  the  plain, 
ajad  journeying  by  the  way,  was  ever  intent  on  his  Father's 


ORDINATION,    OK    I^STITDTIGX.  395 

business.  Anointed  as  he  was  in  a  peculiar  manner,  "to 
preacli  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  to  lieal  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight 
to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  brui.sed,  to  preach 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,*'  so  to  his  ministers  in  all 
ages  is  this  holy  trust  committed.  ''As  my  Father  hath  sent 
me,  even  so  send  I  you,  and  he  breathed  on  tiiem  and  saith 
unto  them,  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost;  whosesoever  sins  ye 
remit  they  are  remitted  unto  them,  and  whosesoever  sins  ye 
retain  they  are  retained;  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  unto 
the  end  of  the  world."  Sacred  deposit,  awful  authority, 
blessed  promise — "But  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels."  ir*iay  for  us,  dear  brethren,  that  we  may  be 
strengthened  from  above  "to  preach  the  word,  to  be  instant, 
in  season,  out  of  season,  reproving,  rebuking,  exhorting,  with 
all  long-suffering  and  doctrine."  "Praj^  for  us,"  that  we  may 
be  so  taught  of  the  spirit  of  wisdom  as  to  "speak  the  things 
that  become  sound  doctrine,  showing  ourselves  approved 
unto  God,  workmen  that  need  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly 
dividing  the  word  of  truth."  "Pray  for  us,"  that  the  spirit 
of  meekness,  gentleness,  patience,  long-sufl'ering,  faith,  and 
charity,  may  so  dwell  in  us,  and  abound,  that  God  may  be 
glorified  by  the  shining  of  our  light  before  men:  and  that  as 
ensamples  to  the  flock,  we  may  with  a  good  conscience  say 
to  them,  "be  ye  followers  of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ." 

There  is,  however,  one  more  designation  of  our  sacred 
oflice,  which,  were  I  to  fail  to  point  out  to  you,  would  argue 
on  my  part  too  limited  an  accpuiintance  with  its  duties  to 
warrant  ray  occupying  any  station  in  tiie  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation. "Now  then  (says  the  apostle  Paul)  we  are  ambas- 
sadors for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us;  we 
pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  i-econciled  to  God," 

Surely,  brethren  and  friends,  this  proof  of  the  condescend- 
ing mercy  of  God  ought  to  humble  us  in  the  dust  befoie  liim. 
AVhat!  shall  tlie  king  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the  only 
wise  God,  propose  terms  of  peace,  of  pardon  and  reconcili- 
ation, to  his  rebellious  creatures — shall  he,  who  has  no  need 
of  the  sinful  man,  condescend,  as  it  were,  to  beseech  us  to 
throw  down  the  arms  of  our  rebellion  and  return  to  our 
allegiance — shall  the  proof  of  his  merciful  intentions  towards 


396  ORDINATION,    OK   INSTITUTION. 

the  creatures  of  his  power,  evidenced  by  long  suffering  pa- 
tience, by  continued  preservation,  by  a  rich  and  varied  pro- 
vision for  all  our  wants,  and  to  crown  the  whole,  by  the  gift 
of  his  only,  his  beloved  Son,  produce  no  softening  effect  upon 
our  hard  and  stony  hearts?  God  forbid,  my  hearers,  for 
•"how  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation?" 

But  as  ambassadors  we  have  our  credentials  to  you,  and 
our  instructions  for  you;  we  come  not  in  our  own  name  or 
•authority,  or  as  ministers  plenipotentiarj'',  with  discretionary 
powers,  authorized  to  cut,  and  carve,  and  trim  the  terms  of 
the  new  covenant,  according  to  the  whim  and  caprice  of 
.shortsighted,  thoughtless,  sinful  mortals.  No  indeed — but 
with  the  commission  of  Christ,  with  directions  full,  plain, 
.and  precise.  Hear  a  few  of  them,  from  this  sacred  store- 
Louse  of  divine  wisdom:  "say  ye  to  the  righteous,  that  it  shall 
be  well  with  him;  for  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings; 
Avoe  unto  the  wicked,  it  shall  be  ill  with  him,  for  the  reward 
of  his  hands  shall  be  given  him."  "When  the  wicked  man 
turneth  away  from  his  wickedness  that  he  hath  committed, 
and  doeth  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  save  his 
.soul  alive."  "Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  un- 
righteous man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the 
Lord  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for 
-he  will  abundantly  pardon."  "God  so  loved  the  world  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  "God 
now  commandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent;  because  he 
hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained;  whereof 
he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  he  hath  raised 
him  from  the  dead."  "Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every 
;j30ul  of  man  that  doeth  evil;  but  glory,  honor,  and  peace  to 
•every  man  that  worketh  good.  For  the  wrath  of  God  is  re- 
vealed from  heaven,  against  all  ungodliness  and  unrighteous- 
ness of  men."  It  were  an  easy  matter  to  multiply  quotations- 
-of  this  kind;  enough,  I  think,  is  produced  to  prove  that  our 
]ine  is  marked  out;  and  I  would  hope  to  excite  a  desire  ia 
you  to  search  the  Scriptures  for  the  terms  of  that  reconcilia- 
tion purchased  by  Jesus  Christ,  for  a  ruined  w^orld. 

Men  and  brethren,  hear  the  soul-reviving,  heart  cheering, 


ORDINATION^,    OK    INSTITUTION.  o9T 

truth — God  is  reconciled,  for  what  Christ  hath  done  and  suf- 
fered for  us;  and  the  great  embassy  on  which  the  ministers 
of  Christ  are  still  sent,  is  to  persuade,  nay  to  pray  you,  be 
ye  on  your  ]3art  reconciled  to  God.  Come,  then,  my  fellow 
sinner;  let  not  unbelief  of  this  precious  truth  keep  thee  at  a 
distance  from  the  mercies  of  the  gospel.  Come  unto  him 
who  is  "our  peace,  and  suffered  that  he  might  reconcile  both 
unto  God,  in  one  body,  by  the  cross,  having  slain  the  enmity 
thereby.  For  it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all 
fulness  dwell;  and,  (having  made  peace  by  the  blood  of  his 
cross)  by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  to  himself;  and  you," 
m}'  Christian  brethren,  "that  were  sometime  alienated,  and 
enemies  in  your  mind  b}^  wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  re- 
conciled, in  the  body  of  his  flesii,  through  death," 

Thus  argues  the  apostle  Paul,  in  his  epistles  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  and  Colossians;  in  those  to  the  Corinthians  the  same 
doctrine  is  maintained,  and  in  that  to  the  Romans,  it  is 
placed  even  beyond  the  reach  of  a  cavil.  "But  God  (saith 
the  apostle,)  commendeth  his  love  towards  us,  in  that  while 
we  vfere  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us.  Much  more  then, 
being  now  justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from 
wrath  through  him.  For  if  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were 
reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  much  more,  being 
reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life."  Merciful  God, 
open  the  hearts  of  this  people  to  receive  and  apply  the  word 
of  reconciliation,  that  they  may  have  peace  with  thee,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord! 

And  "pray  for  us,"  dear  brethren,  that  in  all  the  varied 
offices  of  the  ministry,  whether  as  watchmen,  as  stewards,  as 
shepherds,  as  preachers,  teachers,  and  ambassadors,  we  may 
hold  fast  the  faithful  word — "looking  unto  Him  who  is  head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  and  who  is  the  author  and  fin- 
isher of  our  faith." 

Pray  also  for  yourselves.  O  that  I  could  impress  on  your 
very  souls  the  necessity  of  earnest,  fervent,  persevering 
prayer,  both  in  public  and  in  private.  Nearly  in  vain  shall 
we  preach,  and  worse  than  in  vain  will  you  hear,  if  prayer, 
mighty  prayer,  bring  not  down  upon  us  the  refreshing  dew 
of  God's  blessing.  At  no  time,  and  under  no  circumstances, 
can  your  assembling  yourselves  together  for  the  worship  of 


3'''8  ORDINATION,    OR   INSTITUTION. 

God  be  indifferent  or  neutral  in  its  consequences — of  neces- 
sity you  must  be  benefited  or  injured,  and  that  for  eternit3\ 
*'Take  heed  tlien  how  ye  iiear — for  whosoever  liath,  to  hiiu 
shall  be  given,  and  whosoever  hath  not,  from  hiui  shall  be 
taken  even  that  which  he  seemeth  to  have."  Surely,  my 
friends,  the  tremendous  alternatives  of  death  and  judgment 
might  be  expected  to  take  some  hold  on  even  the  most  giddy 
and  thoughtless.  But  alas  for  man — poor  fallen  man!  How 
seldom  do  the  world,  the  flesli,  and  the  devil,  permit  a  seri- 
ous thought  to  enter  the  mind,  at  least  to  be  entertained, 
there.  Tiie  old  deception,  "Ye  shall  not  surely  die,"  is  yet 
listened  to.  And  to  this  day,  thousands  reject  the  counsel 
of  God  against  their  own  souls,  and  are  called  into  eternity 
without  an  interest  in,  yea,  without  even  knowing  the  terms 
of  that  reconciling  mercy,  purchased  by  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  God's  dear  Son.  God  forbid,  dear  friends,  that  any 
of  us  should  listen  to  the  syren  song  of  the  destroyer.  What 
deep  damnation  shall  we  of  this  favored  land  deserve,  if  we 
continue  to  slight  the  warning  voice  of  the  gospel,  if  we  pre- 
fer the  darkness  of  our  own  foolish  hearts  and  vain  imagina- 
tions to  that  clear  light'which  once  again  shines  to  conduct 
us  to  our  everlasting  happiness.  "God  hath  not  appointed 
us  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salvation  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Behold  the  proof  in  the  light  of  the  gospel,  to  guide 
you  to  your  everlasting  peace,  in  the  appointment  of  a  min- 
istry, to  instruct,  to  reason  with,  to  persuade,  yea,  to  beseech 
you  by  all  the  unutterable  consequences,  suspended  on  this 
our  probationary  state,  to  look  to  the  end,  to  weigh  in  the 
balances  of  the  sanctuary,  the  favor  of  God,  with  the  utmost 
supposable  advantage  and  enjoyment  which  this  world  can 
bestow.  O  that  you  could,  O  that  you  would,  feel  for  your- 
selves, for  your  immortal  souls,  what  every  true  minister  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  feels  for  you;  that  you  would  but  believe 
them  to  be  actuated  by  a  heartfelt  desire  to  promote  your 
eternal  welfare,  that  in  all  the  varied  offices  of  ministerial 
duty,  this  one  sentiment  is  paramount,  as  most  effectually 
promoting  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

"I  speak  as  unto  wise  men,  judge  ye  what  I  say."  Is 
there  an  assignable  motive,  other  than  an  imperious  sense  of 
duty,  a  burning  love  for  souls,  to  press  men  into  this  service? 


OEDINATION,    OR   INSTITUTION.  399 

Is  it  the  road  to  advancement  in  temporal  dignities,  lioiiors, 
and  emoluments?  Does  it  bold  out  the  enticement  of  an  in- 
dolent, sinecuie  enjoyment  of  lite?  Does  it  even  contribute 
to  the  vapor  like  acquisition  of  the  praise  of  men?  In  no 
wise.  Surely  the  meed  of  sincerity  may  be  allowed  to  us — 
assuredly  might  we  expect  to  be  heard  with  interest;  and 
when  a  faithful  discharge  of  duty  called  for  animadversion 
and  reproof,  with  attention  and  charitable  regard,  "we  seek 
not  yours,  but  you."  Shut  not  your  ears  against  us,  and  the 
message  wherewith  we  are  intrusted;  it  is  at  the  peril,  of  our 
souls  if  we  fail  to  warn  the  wicked  of  his  M^ay;  it  is  to  our 
everlasting  reproach,  if  we  prophecy  smooth  things,  crying 
"Peace,  where  there  is  no  peace,"  daubing  up  with  "untem- 
pered  moi-tar,"  the  chasms  and  the  breaches  which  the  as- 
saults of  the  enemy  have  made  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord. 
And  it  will  be  to  your  everlasting  loss,  if,  "not  enduring 
sound  doctrine,  but  heaping  to  yourselves  teachers,  having 
itching  ears,  ye  tui'ii  away  from  the  truth,  and  are  tui-ned 
unto  fables;  if,  foi'saking  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  you 
hew  out  to  yourselves  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  which  can 
hold  no  water." 

My  hearers,  especially  you  my  brethren  of  the  Church,  I 
would  bespeak  your  favor  for  myself  and  for  my  brothers  in 
the  ministry.     Israel  is  conflicting  witli  Amalek,  the  Church 
of  the  living  God  is  at  issue  with  the  world;  which  would  ye 
should  prevail?     Your  unbiased  judgment,  I  know,  speaks 
in  behalf  of  the  religion  of  the  gospel.     Be  faithful  then  to 
that  judgment,  and  as  Aaron  and   Ilur  supported  the  arras 
of  Moses,  when  lifted  up  in  prayer,  that  Israel  after  the  flesh 
iniglit  prevail  in  the  conflict;  so  do  ye  support  the  hands,  and 
strengtlien  the  spirit,  of  your  aged  pastor,  that  victory  in  the 
spiritual  contest  may  crown  his  eiforts.     Let  him  not  be  to 
you  as  the  prophet  Ezekiel  was  to  the  Jews — "a  very  lovely 
song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well  on 
an  instrument."     It  was  the  reproach  of  Israel  of  old,  (I  be- 
seech you  let  it  not  be  yours  also,)  that  to  the  prophets  sent 
among  them — "with  their  mouth   they  showed  much  love, 
but  their  heart  went  after  their  covetousness."     O  while  it  is 
called  to-day,  while  the  day  of  grace  and  salvation  is  within 
your  reach,  harden  not  your  hearts,  but  let  the  morning  mer- 


400  ORDINATION,    OR   INSTITUTION. 

cies  and  evening  favors  of  a  gracious  God  lead  you  to  repent- 
ance. Hard  indeed  must  that  lieart  be,  and  deeply  rooted 
that  depravity,  which  stands  aloof  from  God's  reconciling 
love — heareth  not  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  charm  he  never 
so  wisely — neither  listens  to  the  voice  of  the  law  written  in 
the  heart  by  the  Holt  Spirit,  sent  to  convince  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  of  judgment. 

To  that  awful  judgment,  brethren  and  friends,  we  are  all 
fiist  hastening.  With  what  emotions  do  we  entertain  the 
solemn  thought?  Do  we  desire  or  do  we  dread  that  day, 
which, 'removing  this  veil  of  flesh  and  blood,  shall  display 
alike  the  glories  and  the  horrors  of  the  invisible  world — shall 
summon  you  and  your  pastor,  and  your  poor  servant,  and  all 
who  have  spoken  to  you  the  words  of  this  life,  as  witnesses 
for  and  against  each  other;  even  this  day's  warning,  light  as 
some  may  make  of  it,  shall  not  pass  unnoticed;  it  must  so 
far  clear  or  condemn  me,  must  benefit  or  injure  you.  Ex- 
amine yourselves,  dear  friends,  by  every  test;  you  cannot  be 
too  sure — take  this  as  one:  In  serious,  solemn  retirement,  put 
the  awful  question  to  yourselves,  "Soon  as  from  earth  I  go, 
what  will  become  of  me."  And  may  the  God  of  mercy,  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  enable  you  to 
come  at  the  true  answer. 

Now  to  Him  who  is  able,  and  mighty,  and  willing  to  save 
us;  to  the  only  wise  God  and  our  Saviour,  be  glory,  and  hon- 
or, and  praise,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


SERMON   XIII. 


AN   OKDINATION   SEKMON. 


2  Corinthians,  iv.  5. 

"For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  ourselves 
ycur  servants,  for  Jesus'  sake." 

The  grounds  and  motives  for  undertaking  the  ministerial 
office,  and  the  principle  which  should  preside  over  all  other 
considerations  in  the  performance  of  it,  are  both  set  before 
us  in  tlie  words  of  my  text;  and  coupled  with  the  apostolic 
example,  give  us  readily  to  perceive  both  the  weight  of  the 
duty,  and  the  arduous  nature  of  the  undertaking. 

It  presents,  also,  to  those  for  whose  benelit  the  ministry  is 
instituted,  those  considerations  which  render  the  appointment 
of  a  distinct  order  of  men  to  minister  in  sacred  things,  profit- 
able at  once  to  edification  and  assurance  on  those  high  and 
holy  interests  which  form  the  ultimate  expectation  of  im- 
mortal beings. 

The  purpose  before  us,  then,  my  reverend  and  lay  breth- 
ren, being  one  of  common  concern  and  common  advantage, 
I  shall  endeavor  so  to  frame  the  enlargement  I  propose  to 
make  of  the  text,  as  to  contribute  to  our  joint  benefit.  To 
this  end,  I  shall, 

FiEST,  consider  what  we  are  to  understand  as  the  apostle's 
meaning  in  the  first  clause  of  the  text — '•'We  preach  not 
ourselves." 

Secondly,  I  will  endeavor  to  explain  wliat  it  is,  in  the 
Scripture  sense,  to  preach  Curist. 

TuiRDLY,  I  will  make  some  remarks  on  the  motives  which 
sliould  govern,  in  undertaking  the  ministerial  office. 

FouETTfLY,  On  the  duties  involved  in  this  office,  both  to 
ministers  and  people;  and,  then, 

OoxcLi'DE  with  a  short  application  of  the  subject. 

"For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord: 
and  ourselves  your  servants,  for  Jesus'  sake." 

[Vol.  1,— *2G.] 


402  AN   ORDINATION   SERMON. 

I.  First,  I  am  to  consider  what  we  are  to  ■understand  as 
tlie  apostle's  meaning  in  the  first  clause  of  the  text — "We 
preach  not  ourselves." 

The  method  by  which  St.  Paul  and  the  other  apostles  of 
our  Lord  were  qualified  and  commissioned  to  preach  the 
gospel,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  performed  this  duty, 
are  a  sufficient  comment  on  this  passage  of  Scripture,  and 
instruct  us,  that  as  St.  Paul  received  it  not  from  man,  so 
neither  did  he  preach  it  as  the  attainment  of  any  knowledge 
or  wisdom  of  his  own,  but  as  a  direct  revelation  from  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  such,  he  proposed  it  in  its  original 
plainness  and  simplicity,  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  as  the  doctrine 
of  life  and  salvation;  and  stood  prepared  to  demonstrate  it  t(^ 
be  such,  both  by  arguments  of  reason  and  miraculous  proofs 
of  divine  attestation. 

By  not  preaching  ourselves,  then,  we  are  to  understand 
in  the  first  and  highest  sense,  the  keeping  present  in  our  own 
minds,  and  pressing  upon  the  consciences  of  our  hearers, 
that  the  truths  preached  to  them  are  not  systems  of  human 
contrivance,  or  inventions  of  human  wisdom,  or  yet  the  pro- 
fitable conclusions  of  moral  science,  for  present  advantage  to 
the  world;  but  "the  true  sayings  of  God,  the  wisdom  of  God 
in  a  mystery,  now  made  manifest,  and  commanded  to  be 
preached  among  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of  faith." 
This  is  the  only  ground,  my  friends,  upon  which  we  can 
preach,  or  you  can  hear,  to  edification.  Upon  any  other 
principle,  the  gospel  degenerates  into  a  mere  system  of  ethics, 
and  ministers  of  religion,  instead  of  being,  and  being  regard- 
ed as,  "Stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,"  descend  into  the 
comparatively  insignificant  station  of  teachers  of  morality. 
Tlie  connexion  between  morals  and  religion  is  indeed  very 
close,  yet  is  there  this  never  to  be  forgotten  distinction  be- 
twixt them,  a  distinction  peculiarly  required  to  be  inculcated 
in  the  present  day.  True  religion  necessarily  includes  the 
highest  attainments  in  morals;  whereas  no  advancement  in 
morality,  as  such,  necessarily  includes  any  religious  attain- 
ment at  all. 

That  the  ministers  of  Christ,  then,  assume  this  ground, 
and  hold  it  as  the  very  essence  of  their  calling  and  office,  is 
indispensable  both  to  themselves  and  their  hearers.    Without 


AN   ORDINATION   SERMON.  403 

this  engraven  on  their  own  hearts,  and  manifested  in  the 
tenor  of  their  lives,  and  pressed  upon  the  hearts,  and  exhort- 
ed to  in  the  lives  of  their  hearers,  they  will  soon  cease  to 
respect  themselves,  and  their  hearers  to  respect  them,  through 
their  sacred  office. 

Another  and  very  important  sense  in  wliich  we  are  to 
understand  the  apostle's  meaning  in  these  words,  is,  that  we 
■do  not  preach  the  gospel  f:.om  unworthy  and  improper  motives. 

To  preach  for  popularitj^,  is  in  the  truest  sense,  to  preach 
'Ourselves;  to  fit  our  public  or  private  duties  to  the  wislies, 
rather  than  to  the  wants  of  our  hearers,  is  literally  to  "speak 
unto  them  smooth  things,  to  prophesy  deceits;"  to  frame  our 
discourses  rather  to  tickle  the  itching  ears,  than  to  search 
the  sinful  hearts  of  our  charge,  is  to  surrender  the  fidelity  we 
■owe  to  God  to  the  fear  or  the  favor  of  man;  to  seek  for  oppor- 
tunities of  displaying  particular  talents;  to  be  ambitious  of 
shining  and  attracting  notice,  betrays  a  degree  of  pride  and 
vanity,  and  of  confidence  in  our  own  powers,  which  has  for- 
gotten that  our  sufficiency  is  of  God;  and  to  preach  the  gospel 
for  the  sake  of  the  emoluments  of  the  gospel,  for  filthy  lucre, 
as  St.  Peter  calls  it,  is  truly  to  serve  mammon  and  not  God. 
All  these,  in  their  different  degrees,  come  under  the  descrip- 
tion of  preaching  ourselves,  and  ought  to  have  no  place  either 
in  the  motives  which  prompt  us  to  desire  the  sacred  office,  or 
whicli  govern  us  in  performing  it. 

That  St.  Paul  was  superior  to  all  such  considerations,  is 
demonstrated  by  his  whole  history.  His  foundation  was, 
that  the  gospel  is  from  God;  as  such  he  believed,  and  as  such 
he  preached  it,  in  the  plainness  and  simplicity  of  its  con- 
vincing and  saving  truth.  In  natural  and  acquired  abilities, 
mferior  to  none,  and  inspired  withal,  he  yet  tells  the  Corin- 
thians, that  his  "speech  and  his  preaching  was  not  with  the 
enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom."  Nor  could  the  taunts  and 
scoffs  of  his  adversaries,  the  false  teachers,  draw  hira  away 
from  that  great  plainness  of  speech  which  he  used.  His  de- 
sire was  to  win  souls  to  Christ,  not  to  acquire  the  praise  of 
men  for  himself.  His  ambition  was  to  shine  as  a  Christian, 
not  as  an  orator  or  philosopher.  As  he  had  personally  expe- 
rienced the  efficacy  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour,  he  determined 
to  know  nothing  ia  his  preaching,  "but  Jesijs  Christ,  and 


404  AN   OKDIKATIOJSr   SEEMON. 

liim  crucified" — and  he  gives  as  his  reason,  "that  jonv  faith 
should  not  stand  in  tlie  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of 
God."  And,  as  it  is  the  same  gospel  which  we  have  t'> 
preach,  as  the  same  gracious  purpose  is  yet  to  be  answered 
by  it,  so  are  the  same  means  to  be  used,  and  the  same  motives 
to  govern  the  hearts  of  all  who  undertake  this  holy  office. 
The  ministers  of  Christ  are  not  no^vv,  indeed,  inspired  men; 
nor  do  they  receive  the  gospel  by  direct  revelation.  These 
are  supplied,  and  sufliciently  supplied,,  by  the  recorded 
Scriptures,  b}'  learning  and  study,  and  by  the  ordinary  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit.  These,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  are 
the  substitutes  for  those  miraculous  endowments  which  trans- 
formed illiterate  fishermen  into  able  minis-ters  of  the  New 
Testament;  and  as  such  are  to  be  diligen.tly  applied  by  us. 
l^OY  is  there  wanting  an  equally  satisfactory  attestation  of 
the  commission  to  preach  and  baptize,  with  that  furnished 
to  the  first  Christians  by  the  miracles  of  the  ajiostles.  As  in 
every  age  of  the  world  this  is  needed  to  give  assurance  to 
faith,  in  the  infi^nite  interests  of  eternity,  God  hath  been 
pleased  to  ])rovi(le  it  for  every  age,  in  the  transmission  of 
the  original  commission  to  them,  by  succession  from  them, 
through  the  bishops  of  the  Cljurcli.  ISTor  is  it  conceived  upon 
•what  other  possible,  and  at  the  same  time  rational,  principle, 
one  set  of  men  can  venture  to  preach  the  gospel  as  a  revela- 
tion from  heaven,  and  the  rest  of  mankind  become  guilty 
before  God  for  refusing  to  believe  and  obey  the  g08]3el.  For, 
of  necessity,  and  upon  every  known  principle  of  equity,  if 
the  obligation  to  believe-  and  obey  the  gospel  now  be  just  as 
strong  and  binding  as  at  the  first,  the  means  of  ascertaining 
that  it  is  the  gospel,  and  performing  with  full  assurance  the 
duties  required  by  the  gospel,  must  either  be  the  same  as  at 
the  first,  or  equivalent  in  moral  obligation.  But,  this  being 
undeniably  the  case,  the  ministers  of  Christ  in  this  day  are 
as  much  bound  by  apostolic  example  as  Christians  in  general 
are  by  apostolic  authority.  Ministers  are  not  to  "preach 
themselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord."  Private  Christians 
are  to  "receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted  word  which  is 
able  to  save  their  souls." 

II.  Secondly,  I  am  to  explain  what  it  is,  in  the  Scripture 
sense,  to  preach  Christ — "we  preach  not  ourselves,  but 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord." 


AN   ORDINATION   SERMON.  405 

As  WQ  can  kardly  open  the  Scriptures  of  our  faith,  my 
bretliren  and  hearei^,  without  being  presented  witii  some- 
thing wliich  relates  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Curist,  so  neither  can 
a  Christian  minister  frame  an  admonition,  or  an  exhortation, 
a,  reproof  of  sin,  or  an  encouragement  to  virtue,  a  source  of 
comfort  in  time,  or  hope  in  eternity — which  does  not  begin, 
continue,  and  end  in  him.  Abstracted  from  Cueist,  he  lias 
neither  a  motive,  or  an  argument,  or  a  hope,  or  a  help,  or  a 
promise,  for  himself  or  others.  Being  without  God  in  the 
world,  there  is  nothing  sure  to  man  but  death  and  fear.  As 
a  minister  of  religion,  moreover,  he  must  speak  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  he  must  speak  in  the  words  of  Christ — he  must 
act  by  the  authority'  of  Christ — he  must  speak  to  the  re- 
tleemed  of  Christ,  to  those  who  shall  be  judged  by  Christ, 
and  who,  without  Christ,  can  do  nothing  acceptable  to  God, 
or  profitable  to  themselves. 

But  to  be  more  particular. 

To  preach  Christ  with  effect,  men  must  first  be  showed 
their  need  of  him — in  what  it  is  that  he  is  so  all-important 
to  their  welfare — to  their  peace  with  Goo  here,  to  their  hope 
hereafter.  As  the  sick  only  require  tlie  physician,  men  must 
liave  their  disease  pointed  out  and  brought  home  to  them 
before  they  will  seek  the  remedy  for  it. 

The  fallen  condition  of  human  nature,  then,  the  curse  of 
God  weighing  it  down  to  eternal  death,  and  the  entire  loss  of 
all  spiritual  capacity  in  the  natural  man,  must  be  laid  as  the 
foundation,  and  this  foundation  must  be  laid  both  wide  and 
deep,  and  entire — no  otherwise  can  the  building  of  God  be 
raised  in  its  due  proportions,  and  to  its  proper  height,  and 
to  its  happy  issue,  in  a  recovered  and  sanctified  creature.  To 
treat  this  fundamental  doctrine  lightlv,  then;  to  take  it  for 
granted,  and,  therefore,  only  now  and  then  allude  to  it;  to 
skim  it  over  and  avoid  its  pointed  application  to  every  soul 
that  liveth,  is  to  bury  the  gospel  and  all  its  glad  tidings  to  a 
world  of  sinners,  in  the  grave  of  revealed  religion.  For  of 
what  worth  is  salvation  to  him  who  is  not  lost?  Wherefore 
should  he  accept  deliverance,  who  is  unconscious  of  his  cap- 
tivity, and  in  love  with  his  fetters?  And  what  form  or  come- 
liness is  there  in  Jesus  Christ,  to  men  wdio  have  not  learnt 
the  depth  of  their  own  undoing  in  the  first  Adam,  and  the 


406  AN   OKDINATION   SERMON. 

absolute  impossibility  of  recovery  to  God,  through  tbemselves? 
Here,  then,  my  reverend  brethren,  we  must  take  ©■nr  stand; 
on  this  doctrine,  wide  as  the  world,  universal  as  its  popula- 
tion, and  absolute  as  death,  must  the  gospel  be  preached.  It 
is  God's  gracious  discovery,  confirmed  by  all  we  know  of 
ourselves  and  others,  and  witnessed  to  every  heart  in  the  fear 
and  anxieties  which  render  death  terrible,  and  haunt  our 
forebodings  of  eternity  witli  despair. 

This  foundation  being  laid — to  preach  Christ  with  eflect, 
the  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God  must  open  up  from  the 
faithful  word  the  fulness  and  sufficiency  of  Christ  in  all  his 
offices,  and  the  duty  of  redeemed  creatures.  Under  this  dis- 
play of  the  love  of  God  to  sinners,  St.  Paul  calls  it  "the  un- 
searchable riclies  of  Christ,"  and  so  full  was  he  of  its  un- 
speakable value,  that  he  never  approaches  towards  the  men- 
tion of  it,  in  any  argument  or  exhortation,  that  he  does  not 
seem  transported,  as  it  were,  and  stops,  or  steps  aside  to  re- 
fresh himself  at  this  perpetual  feast. 

The  building,  however,  to  be  secure,  must  proceed  in  or- 
der, with  recovery  by  Christ;  men  must  be  taught  the  neces- 
sity of  renewal  by  his  Spirit — of  that  deep  and  radical  change 
of  the  inner  man,  of  the  heart  and  affections,  of  the  will  and 
desires  which  constitute  the  new  creature — that  birth  from 
above — that  being  born  of  the  Spirit,  which  alone  qualifies 
the  new  creature  for  his  new  duties.  And  this  also  is  a  fun- 
damental doctrine,  to  be  pressed  upon  the  attainment  of  all 
who  would  be  joint  heirs  with  Christ  of  a  heavenly  inheri- 
tance. "Except  a  man  be  born  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  en- 
ter into  the  kingdom  of  God."  To  treat  this  doctrine  lightly, 
then,  or  to  content  ourselves  with  merely  telling  men  that 
they  must  be  born  again,  is  literally  "shutting  up  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  against  men."  No,  my  brethren,  the  minister 
of  Christ  must  not  only  declare  the  doctrine,  but  instruct 
also  how  to  apply  it — must  show  the  steps  to  be  taken,  and 
the  exertions  to  be  made,  and  the  source  to  be  applied  to,  in 
order  to  obtain  this  blessing.  Here,  particularly,  he  must 
show  that  he  is  a  "scribe  instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  which  bringeth  forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new 
and  old."  And  here  caution  and  experience  are  indispensa- 
ble, "lest  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  b^  healed 


AN   ORDINATION   SERMON.  407 

slightly."  As  there  are  degrees  of  sin  and  guilt,  so  are  there 
also  of  conviction;  as  there  are  diversities  of  operations  bj 
the  same  Spirit,  so  are  there  also  of  manifestations.  The 
ordinary  and  the  extraordinary  are  not  to  be  confounded,  but 
the  seasonable  counsel  of  the  word  is  to  be  dealt  out  to  each 
as  need  shall  require.  In  one  thing,  however,  both  ordinary 
and  extraordinary'  unite,  and  that  is,  newness  of  life.  This 
is  the  true  and  unerring  standard  to  which  to  bring  the  re- 
ality of  every  conversion  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  is  his 
unvarying  testimony,  nor  can  it  be  disputed.  The  wind  in- 
deed bloweth  where  it  listeth — it  may  be  a  storm,  or  it  may 
be  a  refreshing  gale,  or  it  may  be  a  gentle  breeze.  It  is 
however  the  same  agent,  visible  only  in  its  effects;  "so  also 
is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 

In  connexion,  iiowever,  with  this  practical  application  of 
revealed  truth,  through  the  primary  doctrine  of  man's  fallen 
state,  all  that  Jesus  Christ  is  to  his  recovery  and  salvation, 
is  .brought  into  view,  is  brought  near,  and  bound  up  as  it 
were  with  every  step,  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  to  God.  Conviction  of  sin,  the  first  step  to 
conversion,  is  the  work  of  the  spirit  of  God,  purchased  to 
this  very  end  by  the  undertaking  of  the  Son  of  God  for  fallen 
men.  Repentance  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God 
is  the  work  of  the  same  Spirit,  rendered  available  to  the 
pardon  of  past  and  forsaken  sin  only  through  the  satisfaction 
made  to  the  divine  justice  by  the  death  of  Christ;  and  the 
pardon  of  sin,  repented  and  forsaken,  is  no  otherwise  to  be 
liad  than  through  the  atonement  made  by  his  blood  shed 
upon  the  cross  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  These  ope- 
rations of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  men,  though  now  sensible 
and  visible  only  in  their  effects,  are  nevertheless  vital  reali- 
ties, revealed  to  faith  and  by  faith  received.  They  are  to  be 
preached,  tiierefore,  that  they  may  be  known  and  expected, 
that  they  may  be  sought  for  and  obtained,  and  as  faitii  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  includes  these  benefits,  therefore  they  are 
virtually  expressed  in  the  frequent  exhortatic»n,  "Believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

In  preaching  these  doctrines,  therefore,  M'e  preach  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord;  for  only  as  they  are  kept  in  connexion  with 
bis  undertaking  for  sinners,  and  relied   upon  for  acceptance 


408  AN    ORDINATION   SERMON. 

through  faith  in  liis  name,  are  they  effectual  to  us.  Convic- 
tion of  sin  overtakes  every  sinner,  when  his  sin  finds  him 
out.  Hepentance  for  sin  necessarily  and  unavoidabh'-  takes 
place  when  the  consequences  of  sin  are  to  be  encountered; 
but  this  is  devoid  of  any  spiritual  or  saving  character:  it  is 
the  mere  sorrow  of  the  world.  It  might  be  admitted,  per- 
haps, in  a  code  purely  moral;  but  can  have  no  place  in  the 
higher  and  purer  code  of  religion.  Morality  respects  only 
the  present  life;  religion  looks  beyond  it,  even  to  life  eternal, 
in  the  presence  of  God. 

Hence  I  think  we  may  understand  why  it  was  that  St. 
Paul  confined  himself  to  this  one  point  in  preaching;  and 
may  learn,  that  by  preaching  Christ  Jp:sus  the  Lord,  and 
"determining  to  know  nothing  among  the;  Corinthians  but 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,"  he  did  not  mean  that  the 
name  of  Christ,  or  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  or  faith  in  his 
name,  or  reliance  upon  his  merits,  were  to  form  the  su1»ject 
matter  of  public  preaching  exclusively — but  rather,  that  as 
his  undertaking  for  us  gave  worth  and  efficacy  to  any  endea- 
vors of  ours  to  propitiate  God,  and  regain  his  favor,  that 
therefore  they  were  not  to  be  separated,  but  that  Christians 
should  be  continually  instructed  to  look  to  him,  and  the 
atonement  of  his  cross,  as  the  ground  of  their  acceptance 
with  God. 

In  like  manner  also,  in  building  up  believei'S  in  their  most 
holy  faith,  the  Christian  minister  preaches  continually  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord.  He  preaches  him  as  the  pattern  and  exam- 
ple of  every  divine  perfection  in  righteousness  and  true  ho- 
liness— of  cheerful  submission  to  the  will  of  God — of  patience 
under  affliction^ — of  compassion  for  the  sufferings,  and  active 
benevolence  in  relieving  the  wants,  of  all  around  him — of 
love,  even  to  his  enemies,  and  forgiveness  of  his  Yevy  mur- 
derers. And  he  preaches  him  as  the  source  of  supply  for 
all  spiritual  grace,  to  the  attainment  "of  the  mind  that  was 
in  Christ,"  by  all  his  followers,  "Whatsoever  ye  do,  in  word 
or  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jescjs,"  is  the  con- 
stant exhortation  of  the  faithful  ministers;  and  in  eveiy  strait, 
in  every  trial,  in  the  season  of  sickness  and  sufiering,  and  at 
the  approach  of  death,  "look  unto  Jesus,  tlie  author  and  fin- 
isher of  your  faith,  who,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him, 


AN   ORDINATION   SERMON.  409 

endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God,"  is  the  aniraating  en- 
couragement he  holds  out  "to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and 
lay  hold  on  eternal  life."  Thus  is  Cueist  Jesus  the  Lord, 
"the  alpha  and  omega,  the  first  and  the  last,"  with  the  faith- 
ful minister  who  watches  for  souls,  as  one  who  for  souls  must 
give  account.  Even  when  his  subject  does  not  directly  re- 
quire that  it  be  mentioned,  there  is  yet  a  seasoning  and  a 
savor  of  Christ  to  be  perceived,  which  marks  the  mainspring 
of  all  his  exertions — which  gives  point  and  impression  to  his 
doctrine,  startling  the  sinner  from  his  security,  and  carrying 
hope  and  comfort  to  the  heart  of  the  believer.  "With  Christ 
in  his  heart,  and  Christ  upon  his  lips,  the  Christian  minister 
"preaches  to  edification,  to  exhortation,  to  comfort — he 
preaches  not  himself  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  himself 
your  servant  for  Jesus'  sake." 

in.  Thirdly,  I  am  to  make  some  remarks  on  the  motives 
which  should  govern,  in  undertaking  the  ministerial  office. 

These,  I  am  fully  persuaded,  should  be  purely  spiritual  in 
their  origin,  pressed  upon  the  heart  by  tlie  well  considered 
conviction,  that  it  is  a  duty  specially  required  by  Almighty 
God,  and  only  in  this  way  to  be  fulfilled:  nothing  less  than 
this,  it  appears  to  me,  can  enable  a  candidate  for  the  minis- 
try to  answer  the  solemn  question — "Do  you  trust  that  you 
are  inwardly  moved  by  tlie  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  yon 
this  oflice  and  ministration?"  with  a  good  conscience.  As 
this,  however,  is  a  point  of  experience,  it  must  in  a  great  de- 
cree be  left  to  the  determination  of  him  who  alone  can  read 
the  heart.  I  say  in  a  great  degree,  because  there  are  cases 
in  whicli  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  determining  the  point 
both  affirmatively  and  negatively.  For  instance,  where  the 
requisite  qualifications  of  natural  or  acquired  ability  are  ac- 
companied by  known  and  tried  piety;  and  such  a  person  pro- 
fesses to  be  moved  by  the  IL)ly  Ghost  to  take  upon  him  the 
ministerial  office;  all  the  assurance  is  given  that  the  luiture  of 
the  case  either  demands  or  admits  of;  but  if  either  i»iety  or 
the  requisite  qualifications  of  natural  or  acquired  ability  be 
wanting,  there  is  equally  satisfactory  assurance,  that  the  per- 
son thus  professing  labors  under  some  delusion  of  mind,  or 
comes  forward  to  deceive;   because,  as  without  piety  tlie 


410  AN    OliDINATION   SERMON. 

Holy  Ghost  cannot  be  presumed  to  call  any  man,  so  neither 
is  it  to  be  allowed,  since  miraculous  endowments  have  ceased, 
that  he  will  call  one  unqualified:  the  most  that  can  possibly 
be  conceded  to  such  instances  being,  that  the  call  remain 
unacted  upon  until  suitable  qualifications  be  obtained,  by 
reading  and  study,  to  enable  him  to  answer  the  call. 

In  subordination  to  this,  as  supreme,  all  other  motives  good 
in  themselves,  and  allowable  to  the  Christian  ministry — the 
respect  attached  to  the  office  in  Christian  lands,  the  advan- 
tage he  may  be  of  to  others,  the  credit,  he  may  humbly  hope, 
he  will  confer  on  the  cause  of  religion — these,  as  they  natu- 
rally tend  to  diligence  and  circumspection,  are  not  to  be  de- 
nied to  the  ministers  of  Ciikist,  or  duiiunnced  as  inc'iisistent 
with  the  inward  motions  of  the  Holy  Sfikit;  what  we  have 
to  guard  against  is,  that  they  be  not  mistaken  or  allowed  for 
the  first  and  highest  motive  of  all.  Neither  are  we  to  con- 
sider the  necessary  accommodations  of  this  life  as  unlawful, 
among  the  subordinate  motives  which  govern  our  choice  of 
this  calling.  As  God  hath  appointed  that  they  "who  preach 
the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel,"  they  have  not  only  a 
claim,  in  common  with  all  other  professions,  to  reasonable 
compensation  for  their  services,  but  they  have  this  claim 
sanctioned  by  divine  warrant,  and  may  lawfully  require  such 
support  as  shall  free  them  from  worldly  care  and  anxiety, 
and  enable  them  to  apply  wholly  to  their  great  work.  And 
did  Christians  duly  consider  the  dignity  of  the  office,  its  in- 
finite importance  to  their  own  comfort,  or  the  credit  of  reli- 
gion in  general,  there  would  not  be  such  just  ground  for 
complaint,  and  reproach  too,  as  there  really  is.  Nothing 
marks  a  cold  and  declining  state  of  religion  more  distinctly 
than  indifference  and  reluctance  to  the  comfortable  support 
of  those  who  minister  to  their  spiritual  wants.  And  if  the 
public  estimation  in  which  any  liberal  profession  is  held,  is 
justly  measured  by  the  remuneration  awarded  its  practice, 
religion  must  be  placed  at  the  bottom  of  tiie  scale,  perhaps 
even  lower  than  many  merely  raeciianical  callings.  And  this 
I  speak  of  religion  in  general,  believing  that  it  is  a  subject 
upon  which  all  denominations  need  edification,  and  also  be- 
cause it  is  one  on  which  individual  clergymen  feel  a  delicacy 
in  speaking.     But  it  might  surely  be  considered,  that,  though 


AN   ORDINATION   SERMON.  411 

clergymen,  they  are  yet  men;  that  generally,  they  have  fam- 
ilies to  educate  and  provide  for,  and  are  cut  oif  from  all  se- 
cular means  to  enable  them  to  meet  this  want.  Christian 
fathers  and  mothers  might  find,  in  their  own  anxieties  on  this 
near  sul^ject,  wherewithal  to  measure  the  anxiety  of  the 
clergy,  and  to  prompt  them  to  aid  in  relieving  it. 

IV.  Fourthly,  on  the  duties  involved  in  this  office,  both  to 
ministers  and  people. 

To  the  public  duties  of  leading  the  devotions  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  preaching  pure  doctrine  to  the  edification  of 
his  charge,  the  minister  of  Christ  owes  it  to  the  usefulness 
of  his  office,  to  devote  a  part  of  his  time  to  private  conimn- 
nication  with  his  charge,  tliat  he  may  learn  mure  nearly  their 
spiritual  state,  and  be  better  enabled  to  adapt  both  his  pub- 
lic and  private  instructions  to  their  immediate  wants.  But 
to  do  this  with  effect,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  free  and 
unreserved  interchange  of  sentiment  be  established  between 
them;  that  it  be  considered  a  matter  of  duty,  when  the  min- 
ister makes  his  appearance,  that  the  conversation  take  the 
serious  turn,  which  belongs  to  the  occasion,  and  the  object 
be  to  impart  and  to  receive  some  spiritual  benefit.  It  is  in 
these  more  private  interviews  that  the  advantage  derived 
from  the  public  ministrations  is  confirmed — because  it  is  in 
this  way  that  doubts  can  be  i)roposed  and  resolved,  points  of 
experience  examined,  reproof  and  encouragement  more  fitly 
administered,  and  any  error  detected  before  it  become  estab- 
lished into  habit. 

But  however  evidently  beneficial  to  both  parties,  on  no 
point  of  duty  is  there  greater  difficulty  to  a  clergyman  than 
on  this.  His  appearance  is  generally  the  signal  for  a  dead 
silence;  and  if  he  prevails  to  break  it  by  any  general  remark, 
so  soon  as  he  leads  the  subject  to  his  purpose,  he  has  it  all  to 
himself — hence  there  is  neither  pleasure  nor  profit  to  either, 
and  it  soon  ceases  to  be  attended  to.  This  is  exactly  my  own 
experience,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  and  I  find  it  pretty 
much  the  same  throughout.  Even  in  visiting  the  sick  and 
the  dying,  there  is  a  strange  reluctance  to  open  up  the  state 
of  their  minds,  and,  consequently,  very  great  difficulty  in 
suiting  our  services  to  their  wants.  But,  my  Christian  breth- 
ren, the  loss  is  yours.     The  public  services  of  your  minister 


412  AN    ORDINATION   SERMON. 

are  the  least  valuable.  It  is  in  your  families,  and  in  tlie 
counsel  and  admonition  of  private  intercourse,  that  his  know- 
ledge, experience,  and  spiritual  attainments  will  be  most  pro- 
fitable; and  that  they  be  thus  profitable,  the  state  of  your  own 
hearts  must  be  noticed  and  borne  in  mind — the  difficulties 
jou  meet  with  in  subduing  temptation,  and  the  progress  you 
make  in  the  divine  life,  should  be  subjects  of  constant  atten- 
tion; so  that  the  counsel  of  an  experienced  guide,  who  hath 
passed  through  the  same  exercises,  may  comfort  and  strength- 
en you  in  your  course,  and  guard  you  against  either  the  de- 
ceits of  your  own  heart,  or  the  snares  of  the  enemy  of  souls. 
These  things,  in  their  minuteness  and  variety,  cannot  enter 
into  the  public  instruction  of  the  pulpit  so  as  to  suit  every 
case,  but  they  can  well  be  attended  to  in  this  more  private 
kind  of  preaching,  in  which  ministers  and  people,  and  pri- 
vate Christians  among  themselves,  can  be  so  profitable  to 
■each  other. 

Another  duty  involved  in  the  office  of  a  Christian  minister 
is,  attention  to  the  lambs  of  the  flock,  in  devoting  a  part  of 
his  time  to  instructing  and  catechising  the  children.  But  in 
this  also,  unless  he  is  assisted  by  the  parents,  but  little  can 
be  done;  yet  nothing  of  greater  importance  to  religion,  to  so- 
•ciety,  to  the  Church,  to  time,  and  to  eternity,  can  be  men- 
tioned. Unless  the  foundation  be  laid  in  early  life,  small  is 
the  hope  that  the  influence  of  religion  will  be  the  ornament 
of  mature  age — unless  the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom  be  sown 
in  the  heart  before  the  thorns  and  the  briers  of  the  M'orld 
liave  taken  hold  of  its  afiections,  the  expectation  is  vain,  or- 
•dinarily  speaking,  that  the  fruit  will  be  unto  holiness.  It 
•may  indeed  be,  but  let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  what  may 
'be  may  also  not  be,  and  that  our  best  security  for  the  event 
IS,  to  follow  as  near  as  possible  the  directions  of  divine  M'is- 
"dom — "Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when 
he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it." 

These,  with  the  additional  duties  of  visiting  the  sick,  and 
.•administering  consolation  to  the  afflicted;  of  watching  the 
bed  of  death,  and  pointing  the  departing  soul  to  Christ  Je- 
.•sus  tlie  Lord;  with  the  labor  of  study  and  preparation,  and 
the  paramount  duty  of  personal  religion — for  ministers  of  re- 
ligion have  their  own  souls  to  save,  as  well  as  the  souls  of 


AN   ORDINATION   SERMON.  41  S 

tliose  who  hear  tlieiii — -show  what  a  laborious,  aud  anxious, 
and  arduous,  and  deeply  responsible  calling,  is  the  office  of 
a  minister  of  Christ;  and  this  faint  delineation  of  its  duties^ 
may  serve  to  convince  Christians  how  much  depends  upon 
them  for  the  comfort  and  usefulness  of  their  pastors.  It  is  a 
joint  interest,  my  brethren — ^an  interest  vvliich  oversteps  tlie 
boundary  of  time — ^an  interest  whicli  will  flourish  or  fade  in 
your  descendants,  according  to  the  j^ains  now  bestowed  upon 
it;  and  will  reward  your  diligence  or  j^unish  your  neglect^ 
by  an  eternal  re-union  with  those  now  so  dear  to  you,  in  ev- 
erlasting blessedness  or  endless  misery. 

Y.  I  come  now  to  conclude  with  a  short  application  of  the 
subject. 

To  3'ou,  my  brethren,  who  are  about  to  assume  the  full 
responsibility  of  this  sacred  office,  all  I  have  said  has  long,. 
I  trust,  been  familiar.  But  as  it  is  safe,  as  it  is  profitable,  to 
be  reminded,  on  such  deeply  accountable  duty,  carry  along 
with  you  into  this  undertaking,  a  higher  impression  than  I 
have  been  able  to  express  of  its  infinite  importance  to  your- 
selves and  others.  II'  the  consequences  were  limited  to  the 
present  life  only — well  might  caution  exert  itself  in  solemn 
warning  and  direction.  But  when  they  extend  into  eternity, 
when  no  calculation  can  limit  the  thousands^  whose  ever- 
lasting condition  may  take  its  unchangeable  color  from  the 
faithfulness  or  the  negligence  with  which  the  trust  this  day 
committed  to  you  is  fulfilled,  language  is  exhausted  of  ex- 
pression, and  the  heart  only  can  be  appealed  to,  in  those  un- 
utterable workings  of  the  deep  and  realizing  sense  of  the  ac- 
count to  be  given  to  God  for  souls,  redeemed  at  the  priceless 
ransom  of  the  blood  of  his  only  begotten  Son.  Well  did  St. 
Paul  say,  "Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?"  And  well  did 
he  say,  "Necessity  is  laid  upon  me,  yea,  avoc  is  me,  if  I  preach 
not  the  gospel."  For  who  that  could  refuse  it  with  a  good 
conscience,  would  undertake  this  pre-eminence  of  toil  and 
labor,  and  privation  and  responsibility?  O  it  is  a  solemn 
trust,  and  but  for  the  constraining  power  of  "the  love  of 
Christ,"  could  be  undertaken  by  none.  Yet  the  same  blessed 
apostle  hath  told  us,  "Our  sufficiency  is  of  God — My  grace 
is  sufficient  for  thee,"  says  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  to  all  his 
faithful  ministers  and  members.    To  that  grace  then  I  remit 


414:  AN   OEDINATION   SERMON. 

you,  my  brethren,  with  this  exhortation,  determine  to  know 
nothing  but  Jesus  CimiST,  and  hitn  crucified— jpreach  Chkist 
the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  jjoioer  of  God  to  every  one  that 
helieveth — unfurl  the  banner  of  the  cross^  and,  pointing  to 
him  who  was  lifted  up  upon  it,  proclaim  him  a  prince  and 
a  saviour,  exalted  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
to  his  people — proclaim  him  as  the  only  name  under  heaven 
given,  whereby  we  may  be  saved,  and  as  able  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God  by  him. 

And  may  he  who  is  head  over  all  things  to  his  Church, 
look  with  favor  on  our  work,  and  add  that  blessing  which 
shall  cause  it  to  redound  to  his  glory,  the  good  of  his  Church, 
the  safety,  honor  and  welfare  of  his  people,  in  the  increase 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  in  this  congregation. 

Now  unto  God  the  Father,  &c. 


SERMON   XIV, 


CONSECRATION. 


Psalm,  xciii.  6.     (Last  clause.) 
''Holiness  becometh  thine  house,  0  Lord,  for  ever." 

We  are  not  as  much  aware  as  we  should  be,  mj  brethren 
and  hearers,  of  the  importance  of  applying  to  the  words  of 
any  author,  that  meaning  in'which  they  were  used  by  him — 
nor  are  we  generally  aware  how  much  a  change  in  the  ori- 
ginal meaning  of  a  particular  word  will  affect  the  belief  and 
the  practice  of  the  system  to  which  it  belongs.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  experience  also,  that  in  the  course  of  time,  words  do 
change,  and  sometimes  even  lose  their  original  signification, 
and  that  great  confusion  of  mind,  as  well  as  very  serious  dif- 
ficulty in  arriving  at  truth,  grows  out  of  this  cause. 

This  is  true  of  all  sciences.  They  have  each  particular  or 
leading  words,  to  which  a  fixed  and  appropriate  meaning  is 
attached,  and  which  can  only  be  correctly  understood,  and 
advantageously  applied,  as  that  particular  meaning  is  con- 
tinued in  use.  But  it  is  more  especially  true  of  religion,  and 
is  proportionally  important  as  that  science  excels  all  others 
in  the  magnitude  of  its  discoveries,  and  in  the  excellency  of 
its  knowledge. 

This  may  be  made  more  familiar  to  you,  my  hearers,  by 
an  example.  The  words  regeneration,  and  conversion,  are 
used  in  the  Scripture  to  express  two  things,  as  different  from 
each  other  as  cause  and  effect.  Yet  it  has  come  to  pass,  tliat 
in  popular  acceptation,  tlie  word  regeneration  is  applied,  and 
almost  exclusively,  to  what  was  originally  expressed  by  the 
word  conversion.  Hence,  it  has  come  to  pass,  that  Chris- 
tians generally  have  nearly  lost  sight,  both  of  the  idea  and 
the  thing  intended  in  Scripture  by  the  word  regeneration; 
while  nothing  of  force  or  of  elucidation  has  thereby  been 
added  to  the  idea  or  to  the  thing  intended  in  Scripture,  by 
the  word  conversion.     On  the  contrary,  both  confusion  of 


416  CONSECRATION. 

mind,  as  to  tlie  two  doctrines,  and  injury  to  religion,  as  a 
reasonable  and  practical  service,  has  been  the  consequence, 
as  is  known  to  all  who,  without  explanation,  have  witnessed 
the  administration  of  baptism  according  to  the  primitive  me- 
thod which  is  pursued  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  When  the 
minister  pronounces  the  child  M'hich  lias  just  been  baptized, 
regenerate,  and  calls  upon  the  congregation  to  give  thanks 
to  Almighty  God,  that  it  hath  pleased  him  to  regenerate  this 
infant  with  his  Holy  Srmrr,  persons  who  are  not  aware  of 
the  distinction  between  the  two  words  are  bewildered,  while 
the  more  ignorant  and  conceited  are  prepared  to  sneer  and 
scoff  at  the  notion  of  an  infant  being  converted. 

Thus  one  vital  and  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christ's  reli- 
gion is  thrown  entirely  out  of  sight;  another,  no  less  essen- 
tial, is  embarrassed  with  a  difficulty  which  cannot  be  sur- 
mounted, and  a  holy  sacrament,  instituted  by  Christ  himself,. 
is  lowered  in  estimation,  and  degraded  in  the  use.  Yet,  my 
Christian  hearers,  while  the  word  of  Christ  stands,  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  will  be  the  only  sign  and  seal  of  our  regen- 
eration to  God.  "Wliile  common  sense  stands,  spiritually 
dead  creatures,  such  as  fallen  but  redeemed  men,  must,  in 
some  way  and  at  some  time,  be  restored  to  spiritual  capaci- 
ty, before  it  can  be  reasonable  either  to  require  them  to  lead 
religious  lives,  to  exhort  those  who  do  not,  to  repentance,  or 
possibly  to  produce  their  conversion.  Regeneration,  as  ori- 
ginally understood,  being  the  root  of  all  religious  capacity 
and  obligation  in  redeemed  man,  must  be  previous  in  point 
of  time,  and  independent  of  any  qualification  in  man,  but  the 
necessity  arising  from  original  sin;  whereas,  conversion,  in  its 
original  and  proper  meaning,  being  the  actual  change  of 
lieart  and  life  in  tlie  wilful  sinner,  must  be  subsequent,  not 
only  to  regeneration  but  to  sin  actually  committed,  and  must 
be  preceded  by  conviction  of  and  sorrow  for  his  sins,  as  of- 
fences against  God,  and  be  followed  by  a  new  life. 

Infants,  as  such,  may  be  and  are  regenerated  by  the  Holy 
Spirit;  practical  simiers  only,  previously  regenerated,  can 
and  must  be  converted.  Repentance  and  faith  are  not  nc- 
cessar}''  to  regeneration;  to  conversion  they  are  indispensable. 

Something  of  the  same  kind  has  taken  place  as  to  the 
meaning  of  many  other  leading  words  in  the  Christian  sys- 


CONSECRATION.  417 

t3em  of  faith  and  2>ractice,  amongst  ^rliicli  the  leading  word 
in  my  text,  holiness,  is  one;  and  reqnires  to  be  noticed,  not 
only  on  account  of  its  connexion  with  the  solemn  ceremony 
which  you  have  this  day  witnessed,  but  also  for  general  edi- 
fication. The  original  and  proper  meaning  of  the  word  ho- 
liness, in  Scripture,  when  spoken  of  men,  invariably  includes 
their  separation  to  God,  by  the  external  appointments  of  re- 
ligion, as  well  as  the  moral  eifect  of  the  means  of  grace  ex- 
liilnted  in  the  deportment  of  the  life.  Whereas  the  modern 
notion  of  holiness  is  applied  altogether  to  the  latter,  or  moral 
efiect,  without  any  regard  being  had  to  whether  tlie  means 
of  grace  appointed  by  Almighty  God  have  been  duly  used, 
or  altogether  neglected.  In  tlie  following  discourse,  there- 
fore, I  shall, 

FiKST,  explain  the  word  holiness;  and, 

Secondly,  apply  it  to  the  various  relations  in  which  it  is 
connected  with  religious  condition. 

"Holiness  becometh  thine  house,  O  Lord,  for  ever." 

I.  First  to  explain  the  word  holiness. 

This  word,  as  used  in  the  Scriptures,  hath  both  an  absolute 
and  a  relative  signification.  In  the  absolute  and  unqualified 
sense,  it  belongs  and  is  applied  exclusively  to  Almighty  God, 
who  is  essentially  and  underivedly  pure,  holy,  and  periect 
beyond  the  comprehension  of  any  created  intelligence.  In 
the  relative  or  derived  sense,  the  word  holiness  is  applied  to 
angels  and  men,  to  things  inanimate,  and  even  to  places,  as 
is  instanced  in  my  text. 

In  this  relative  signification,  and  as  applied  to  our  condi- 
tion, my  hearers,  the  word  holiness  denotes — First,  Se]~>ara- 
tion  to  God,  by  his  calling  and  appointment,  evidenced  by 
some  external  mark  or  religious  rite  by  him  appointed,  to 
denote  the  condition.  By  this  external  separation  individual 
persons,  nations,  things,  and  places,  become,  in  a  i>ccnliar 
manner,  the  property  of  Almighty  God,  who  is  accordingly 
said  to  sanctify  them  to  and  for  himself.  Thus  the  ])r()p]iet 
Jeremiah  and  John  the  Ba])tist  were  sanctified  from  the 
womb,  to  their  respective  ofiices.  Thus  the  nation  of  the 
Jews  was  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  y^orld  by  the  calling 
of  God,  and  made  holy  to  the  Lord  by  tlie  rite  of  circumci- 
sion; and  all  Christian  nation*,  by  obeying  tlie  call  uf  tlic 
[Vol.  1,— *27.] 


418  CONSECRATION. 

gospel,  and  receiving  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  are  sanctifietl 
to  God  as  his  jK'cnliar  people.  Thus  the  tabernacle  and  the 
temple,  their  fnrnitiire  antl  implements  for  the  daily  sacri- 
Hce,  with  the  priests  and  Levites  who  ministered  therein, 
nndcr  the  Old  Testament  dispensation,  were  holy  to  the  Lokd;, 
and  the  (Jhristian  Church,  with  its  buildings,  its  worship,  its 
sacraments,  and  its  ministry,  under  the  ISew  Testament  dis- 
pensation, are  sanctitied  and  set  apart  to  their  resi)ective 
uses,  in  the  appointed  service  of  Almighty  God.  Tliis  is 
Bometimes  called  a  legal  holiness,  and  as  such  undervalued, 
and  even  by  some  derided;  but  not  with  understanding.  For 
while  religion  shall  continue  to  be  the  duty  of  redeemed 
man,  the  holiness  which  is  derived  from  the  express  appoint- 
jnent  and  institution  of  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,, 
must  lie  at  the  root  of  all  rational  comfort  from  its  public 
ministrations,  of  all  reasonable  expectation  of  growth  in 
grace,  and  of  any  good  hope  of  its  promised  reward. 

II.  Secondly — ^Tlie  word  holiness,  as  applied  to  moral  be- 
ings, denotes  separation  from  the  love  and  practice  of  sin; 
union  with  God  through  Chkist,  by  the  renewal  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  conformity  to  the  nature  and  will  of  God,  in  the 
conduct  of  the  life.  Tliis  is  the  holiness  which  it  is  the  de- 
clared purpose  of  religion  to  produce  and  extend  in  a  sinful 
^\•orld;  for  the  furtherance  of  which  all  its  institutions,  ap- 
pointments, and  ordinances  are  devised  and  adapted  to  the 
restored  competency  of  moral  beings,  by  the  wisdom  of  God; 
to  the  attainment  of  which  all  Christians  pledge  themselves,, 
and  without  which,  divine  truth  assures  them,  there  is  no 
salvation. 

Now my  dear  friends,  as  no  man  can  sanctify  himself  in 
either  meaiung  of  the  word  h,pliness;  as  it  is  the  office  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  prescribe  the  means,  to  provide  the  instru- 
ments, and  to  give  efiect  to  the  work  of  grace,  by  renewing 
the  heart,  and  maintaining  the  soul  m  holiness;  it  must  be  a 
most  dangerous  error  to  expect  the  end,  either  without  the 
means  which  God  hath  prescribed,  or  with  a  part  of  them 
only,  or  in  the  use  of  other  means,  or  of  the  means  unlawful- 
ly administered.  Yet  to  all  this,  the  common  notion  and  use 
of  the  word  holiness  most  certainly  tends;  as  it  is  evident, 
from  the  disregard,  and  even  neglect,  of  the  sacraments  in* 


CONSECRATION.  419 

general,  and  from  the  indifference  with  which  tlie  ministe- 
rial commission,  or  authority  to  administer  them,  is  regarded 
hj  the  majority  of  professing  Christians  amongst  us.  Yet 
while  the  world  continues  must  it  ever  be  a  j)revious  ques- 
tion, my  brethren,  with  every  serious  person — am  I  in  cove- 
nant with  God?  Tlie  answer  to  which  can  no  otherwise  be 
obtained  than  from  actual  conformity  with  those  require- 
ments, both  external  and  internal,  both  legal  and  moral, 
which  God  hath  instituted,  to  give  certainty  and  assurance 
to  his  people,  on  this  cardinal  point.  And  while  God  shall 
continue  holy  and  unchangeable,  all  excusable  mistake  is 
provided  against,  in  the  clear  delineation  given  us  in  the 
scriptures  of  what  holiness  consists  in,  and  in  the  solemn  de- 
claration that  without  it,  "no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.'' 

I  come,  in  the  next  place,  to  apply  the  word,  thus  ex- 
plained, to  the  various  relations  in  which  it  is  connected 
with  religious  condition. 

I.  xVnd  lirst  to  the  people  of  God.  Holiness  beeometh 
them. 

All  men  are  the  creatures  of  God;  l)Ut  all  men  are  not  the 
|)eople  of  God,  in  the  scriptural  meaning  of  that  expression. 
This  is  a  distinction  which  Almighty  God  confers,  according 
to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  own  will,  as  is  manifest  l)y  the 
present  condition  of  the  world,  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  yet  under  the  dominion  of  darkness,  alike  ignorant 
of  God,  and  of  his  revealed  mercies  in  Christ  Jesus. 

"Who  then  are  to  be  considered  as  the  people  of  God?  To 
tliis  the  scri})tures  teach  us  to  answer — first,  those  whom  God 
hath  called  to  the  knowledge  of  his  grace  by  the  gospel,  are 
thereby,  and  therefore,  designated  as  his  people.  This  is  the 
most  usual  sense  in  which  the  expression,  the  people  of  God, 
is  applied  in  the  scri])tures.  Secondly,  in  a  more  scriptural 
sense,  the  people  of  God  are  those  who,  out  of  the  l)ody  of 
this  community,  make  a  i)rofession  of  religion,  and  conform 
to  its  laws  and  regulations.  These,  with  their  children,  form, 
[)roperly  speaking,  the  visible  Churcli  of  Christ.  Ihit,  as 
unck'r  the  Old  Testament  dispensation,  "they  were  not  all 
Israel  which  were  of  Israel;"  therefore,  under  the  gospel,  in 
like  manner,  the  i)eople  of  God  are,  thirdly,  and  in  the  high- 
<?st  sense,  those  who  are  ti-uly  vrhat  tJicy  profess  to  bo,  by  a 
real  intrinsic  sanctity  of  heart  and  dei»ortment. 


420  CONSECrwATION. 

But,  thoiigli  tliis  dift'erence  of  character  lias  always  been 
found  among  the  people  of  God,  it  has  never  deprived  them 
of  their  denomination.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  standing 
argument  of  the  prophets  under  the  law,  and  of  the  apostles 
under  the  gospel,  to  exhort  and  encourage  them  to  faithful- 
ness and  diligence  in  working  out  their  everlasting  salvation. 
Tares  are  indeed  sovrn  among  the  wheat,  and  they  must 
grow  together  until  the  harvest,  when  the  Omnipotent  Judge 
Avill  himself  make  the  just  and  tinal  separation. 

This  is  the  view  which  the  Scriptures  give  us  of  this  appel- 
lation, the  people  of  God.  All  nations,  therefore,  where  the 
gospel  is  received,  and  the  religion  it  teaches  acknowledged 
and  established,  among  which,  praised  be  God,  we  are 
numbered,  are  entitled  to  this  high  distinction;  nor  is  there 
any  escape  from  the  obligations  and  duties  annexed  to  this 
privilege,  but  with  the  eternal  perdition  of  our  immortal 
souls.  It  is  not  in  your  choice,  my  hearers,  whether  you 
will  be  the  people  of  God.  But  it  is  in  your  choice,  as  moral 
beings,  whether  you  will  profit  by  this  distinction  of  the 
providence  of  your  heavenly  Father,  to  attain  eternal  life,  or 
increase  your  condemnation,  by  casting  away  from  you  the 
rich  mercies  of  redemption,  purchased  by  the  blood  of  Chkist. 

Now  what  becomes  a  people  thus  favored?  What  return 
should  all  be  engaged  in  making  to  him  who  hath  thus  pre- 
ferred them  to  millions  of  his  creatures,  in  themselves  equally 
deserving?  Is  not  every  tongue  ready  to  answer,  holiness, 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  becometh  such  a  peoj^le? 
Yes,  ni}^  hearers;  reason  and  conscience  both  unite  in  con- 
firming this  to  be  the  duty,  the  first  and  highest  duty,  of 
every  soul,  under  the  grace  of  the  gospel.  As  God  hath 
separated  you  from  the  world  that  lieth  in  wickedness,  and 
given  you  the  light  of  life  in  his  holy  word,  it  is  your  part 
to  come  to  the  light,  and  to  separate  yourselves  to  his  service, 
by  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts.  As  he  hath  fur- 
nished you  with  the  means  of  grace,  in  the  word  and  sacra- 
ments, in  the  privilege  of  prayer,  both  public  and  private,  in 
the  clear  declaration  of  his  will,  and  in  the  glorious  hope  of 
eternal  life,  through  the  merits  and  death  of  his  only  be- 
gotten Sou,  no  <luty  can  be  so  urgent  as  that  of  informing 
yourselves  of  the  will  of  God,  and  setting  yourselves  earnestly 


CONSECRATION.  421 

to  perform  it:  nor  can  a  stronger  argument  be  devised  t. .  en- 
force this  npon  rational  beings,  tlian  to  set  before  them  the 
high  privileges  confen-ed  upon  them  in  this  distinction,  and 
the  strong  assurance  thence  to  be  derived,  that  if  they  are 
but  fiiithful  to  their  own  best  interest,  the  victory  that  con- 
fers immortal  glory  will  be  attained.  For  what  higher 
evidence  can  be  given  to  any  people,  that  "God  hath  not 
appointed  them  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salvation  by  our 
LoKD  Jesus  Cueist,"  than  thus  calling  them  to  be  his  people, 
and  furnishing  them  with  the  means  of  salvation?  "What 
higher  or  more  affecting  motive  can  be  presented  to  the 
sinner,  yea,  even  to  the  chief  of  sinners,  to  break  off  his  sins 
by  repentance,  and  his  iniquities  by  righteousness,  than  the 
manifestation  of  the  love  of  God  in  the  gift  of  Jesus  Ciikist, 
"that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life." 

And  who  is  there  now  before  me,  who  knows  not  of  this 
precious  gift?  And  do  you  not  know  it  exclusively  because 
you  are  the  people  of  God?  Have  those  who  are  not  his 
people — the  Heathen,  for  instance — ^have  they  the  knowledge 
of  this  surpassing  favor,  have  they  any  revelation  to  direct 
tliem  how  to  come  to  God?  Have  they  any  prescribed 
means  of  grace  to  prepare  them  for  eternal  life  in  his  king- 
dom? No.  They  have  not  the  knowledge  of  his  ways,  they 
have  not  the  bright  and  blessed  hope  which  shines  upon 
Christian  lands.  Awake,  then,  my  hearers,  to  that  holiness 
which  becometh  a  people  thus  favored.  Awake  to  tliat 
separation  of  yourselves  from  the  world  and  its  wickedness, 
from  the  flesh  and  its  lusts,  from  sin  and  all  its  deceits, 
which  is  the  first  step  to  the  holiness  to  which  you  are  calh'd. 
Awake  to  the  hope  which  the  gospel  sets  before  every  one 
of  you,  and  purify  yourselves,  even  as  He  who  hath  ]>ur- 
chased  it  for  yon  is  pure.  Set  about  it  without  delay,  as  a 
thing  possible,  indispensable,  and  without  which  you  arr  lost 
for  ever. 

Goo  hath  called  you  to  lioliness,  and  furnished  you  to  ]>e- 
come  holy,  not  only  by  external  separation  from  the  vicious- 
ness  of  sin,  but  by  real  and  intrinsic  transformation  of  the 
soul.  But,  my  dear  friends,  this  is  to  be  sought  for  as  the 
one  tiling  needful,  by  having  recourse  to  the  means  of  gi'ace, 


422  CONSECKATION. 

ill  the  holy  ■word,  in  prayer,  in  tlie  duties  of  the  holy  SuL- 
bath,  in  the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  and  in  forsaking  all 
sin.  These  evidences  on  your  pai't,  of  a  sincere  desire  to 
obey  and  please  him,  God  hath  promised  to  bless,  and  to 
make  effectual  to  you  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  is  the  Spieit  of  holiness,  the  Giver  of  all  spiritual  grace, 
and  the  author  of  everlasting  life.  Awake,  then,  my  dear 
hearers,  to  the  high  privileges  to  which  you  are  called  as  the 
people  of  God.  Burst  the  bonds  which  sin  hath  coiled 
around  you,  and  in  the  strength  of  God's  blessed  invitation, 
come  to  jEsrs,  that  merciful  Saviour,  who  hath  also  promised, 
"Him  that  cometli  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 

II.  Secondly,  to  the  ministers  of  God — holiness  becoraeth 
them. 

All  Christians  are  the  servants  of  God,  but  all  Christians 
are  not  the  ministers  of  God.  The  holiness  which  becometh, 
or  is  recpiired  of  them,  therefore,  must  partake  of  this  dis- 
tinction, and  be  measured  by  the  nature  and  purpose  of 
their  office. 

As  the  ministerial  office,  then,  relates  solely  to  spiritual 
things,  and  is  instituted  to  dispense  the  mysteries  of  religion, 
to  the  comfort  and  edification  of  the  body  of  Chkist,  we  are 
ace(.>rdingly  instructed,  that  "no  man  taketh  this  honour  unto 
himself,  but  he  that  is  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron."  And 
as  the  ministry  of  the  word  and  sacraments  of  religion  is  for 
the  benefit  of  third  persons,  and  a  representative  office,  all 
reasonal>le  assurance  should  be  had,  that  the  ministrations 
from  Avhich  Christians  derive  the  comforts  and  the  hopes  of 
tlie  gospel,  are  i)erforined  by  tlie  autliority  of  Christ.  Hence 
the  holiness  which  becometh  the  ministers  of  religion,  con- 
sists. First,  in  being  inwardly  moved  and  called  by  the  Holy 
GiiosT  to  the  office;  and,  also,  in  being  duly  and  really  com- 
missioned by  those  wlio  have  lawful  and  verifiable  authority 
from  Chkist  thereto.  Without  both  of  these  qualifications, 
the  holiness  of  a  minister  of  Chkist  is  imperfect,  either  as  re- 
spects God,  or  as  respects  tlie  people  of  God,  and  conse- 
(piently  is  not  such  as  becometh  the  high  concerns  he  is  en- 
trusted Avitli,  and  the  mighty  interests  dependent  on  their 
being  authoritatively  performed.  In  this  resjject  the  Church 
of  Christ,  as  a  visible  society,  is  governed  by  the  same  prin- 


OOXSECKA'nO}s.  423 

eiples  which  prevail  in  every  other  society,   ami  tlie  same 
reasoning  must  be  a2:»pliecl  to  it. 

A  man  may  be  ever}'  way  qualified  for  the  office  ctf  a 
2nagistrate,  and  truly  desirous  to  benefit  tiie  community  by 
his  services;  but  it  is  his  commission  only  that  makes  his 
judicial  acts  eitlier.  of  force  or  value  to  tfiose  amongst  whom 
he  officiates.  If  then  l>e  is  not  commissioned  at  all,  ycS 
undertakes  to  act  on  the  impulse  of  his  strong  desire  to  do- 
good;  or  is  commissioned  by  those  who  have  no  authority 
thereto — in  either  case,  as  the  State  is  not  a  party  to  his  acts, 
.however  wise  and  beneficial,  it  is  not  bound  by  them,  either 
legally  or  njorally,  and  they  are  consequently  of  no  worth, 
as  a  dependence  for  those  whose  interests  are  at  stake.  In 
]ike  manner  of  a  minister  of  religion;  and  were  men  as 
watchful  and  earnest  in  their  spiritual  as  in  their  temporal 
concerns,  there  would  not  be  the  cause  to  fear  that  there  now 
is,  for  the  awful  insecurity  in  which  the  religious  hope  of 
thousands  is  placed,  b}'-  the  indifierence  manifested  to  this 
branch  of  ministerial  holiness. 

The  holiness  which  becometh  the  ministers  of  religion  con- 
sists, in  the  next  place,  in  their  being  truly  spiritual-minded 
men,  filled  with  tlie  love  of  Christ,  devoted  to  the  service  of 
God,  and  Ikithfully  engaged  in  the  great  work  of  turning 
sinners  from  darkness  to  light,  and  in  preparing  the  souls 
committed  to  their  charge  for  eternal  gloiy.  This  is  the 
great  work  to  which  the  ministers  of  Christ  are  called,  and 
for  which  they  must  be  furnished  with  all  those  qualifications 
which  an  experimental  knowledge  of  divine  things,  and  a 
diligent  study  of  the  learning  immediately  connected  with 
2'evealed  religion,  can  confer  upon  them.  Without  these, 
they  will  be  either  insufficient  or  unsafe  instructers  of  others, 
iind  liable  to  be  deluded,  and  drawn  iiside  into  some  specious 
•error,  under  the  pretence  of  improvement  or  reform. 

The  minister  of  Christ  is  to  be. an  instructer  of  righteous' 
ness,  and  an  ensample  of  what  he  teaches,  to  his  flock.  His 
lioliness,  therefore,  must  be  such  as  the  flock  can  observe 
and  imitate.  It  is  not  in  the  pulpit  only,  tliat  he  is  to  mani- 
fest his  separation  from  the  world;  but  in  his  daily  deport' 
ment  and  in  his  more  private  conversation  he  is  to  sliow  that 
Jaoliness  to  tlie  Lord  is  inscribed  on  himself,  ou  his  family, 


424  CONSECEATIOiN'. 

and  on  all  liis  occupations.  "Be  ye  followers  of  me,  even  as 
I  also  am  of  Christ,"  was  the  challenge  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Corinthiani?;  and  happy  that  minister  of  Christ  who  with 
equal  fidelity  strives  to  be  able  to  speak  the  same  language 
to  his  charge — and  hilppy  that  flock  who  are  favored  with 
a  pastor  who  thus  unites  a  holy  calling,  a  true  commission, 
a  cultivated  understanding,  and  a  godly  conversation. 

III.  Thirdly,  To  the  house  of  God,  "Holiness  becometk 
thine  house,  O  Lord,  forever." 

As  God  is  infinitely  removed  from  all  impurity  and  pollu- 
tion, whatever  is  appropriated  to  his  service  requires  to  be 
separated  from  all  common  and  profane  uses.  The  houses, 
therefore,  in  which  the  public  offices  of  religion  are  to  be 
performed,  where  Christians  are  to  meet  to  present  their 
united  prayers  and  praises  to  their  common  Father,  and 
where  the  holy  sacraments  are  to  be  administered,  should 
have  some  mark  to  distinguish  them  from  common  buildings, 
and  appropriate  to  the  lioly  uses  to  which  they  are  applied. 
Now  tliis  mark  can  in  no  way  so  well  be  given  them  as  by  a 
solemn  dedication  unto  God,  and  a  public  separation  of  them 
from  all  otlier  and  common  uses,  for  ever  thereafter,  as  his 
especial  property.  This  you  have  seen  performed  to-day, 
after  the  manner  and  form  prescribed  by  the  Episcopal 
Church;  and  by  this  we  have  conferred  upon  this  building, 
tluit  relative  holiness  which  becometh  the  place  where  God 
hath  put  his  name,  and  promised  to  meet  his  people. 

God,  indeed,  "dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands," 
yet,  as  the  public  exercises  of  religion  require  suitable  ac- 
commodations, it  hath  been  the  grateful  duty  of  Christians, 
in  every  period  of  the  Chui'ch,  to  provide  such  as  were 
answerable  to  their  ability,  and  to  dedicate  them  solemnly, 
and  exclusively,  to  the  service  of  God.  And  in  doing  this, 
they  consulted  not  only  their  duty,  but  their  interest;  for 
surely,  a  more  reverend  and  religious  feeling  must  be  im- 
pressed upon  the  heart  on  entering  a  convenient  and  suitable 
building  thus  consecrated  to  holy  uses,  than  on  entering 
those  miserable  hovels,  which  through  the  week  are  the  re- 
ceptacles of  brute  animals,  and  on  the  Lord's  day  are  too 
dark  and  dirty  to  afibrd  comfort  to  human  beings. 

It  is  said,  and  truly  said,  my  hearers,  that  the  reliffioug 


CONSECEATION.  4.-25 

character  of  a  people  may  be  safely  estimated  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  houses  provided  for  public  worship  anioug 
them.  A  truly  pious  people,  who  are  alive  to  God,  and  to 
the  great  things  he  hath  done  for  them,  will  not  be  content 
to  dwell  in  houses  of  cedar,  while  the  ark  of  God  abideth 
under  curtains  only;  and  much  has  yet  to  be  done  ere  this 
reproach  is  wiped  away  from  our  land.  Let  us  hope,  how- 
ever, tliat  the  delusion  which  expects  the  abiding  blessing  of 
God  upon  a  people  where  his  name  and  worship  are  not 
honored  with  those  requisites  which  his  holy  service  demands, 
is  passing  away,  that  a  better  mind  is  beginning  to  manifest 
itself,  and  that  Scripture,  and  reason  derived  from  Scripture, 
will  at  length  triumph  over  the  corruptions  which  erroneous 
views  of  religious  truth  have  engendered;  and  that  the  good 
example  given  in  the  erection  and  consecration  of  this  build- 
ing, will  rous-e  the  dormant  spirit  of  reverence  for  God,  of 
concern  for  the  souls  of  their  fellow  creatures,  and  stir  up  the 
hearts  of  others  to  go  and  do  likewise.  It  is  a  charity  of  the 
highest  order,  and  of  the  most  lasting  nature — a  good  work 
in  the  best  acceptation  of  the  term,  and  to  be  surpassed  only 
by  that  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  which  shall  provide  for  the 
regular  performance  of  those  holy  offices  to  which  it  is  now 
set  apart.  '"''Holiness  hecometlc  thine  house^  0  Lokd,  foi'  <?rt'y." 

May  this  truth  be  impressed  upon  every  heart,  in  tiie  full 
meaning  of  the  expression;  and  a  holy  people,  a  holy  ministry, 
and  a  holy  house,  in  the  true  Scripture  sense  of  separation 
and  Godliness  conjoined,  be  speedily  raised  up  in  every  des- 
titute portion  of  our  Zion,  prepared  to  sanctify  and  adorn  that 
holy  day,  which  God  hath  given  us  as  his  peculiar  people; 
and  may  they  ever  be  found  here  united,  to  the  glory  and 
praise  of  his  holy  name,  and  to  the  increase  of  his  kingdom 
of  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Now,  to  God  the  Father,  Gop  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy 
GnosT,  be,  &c.  &c. 


SEKMOIT   XY, 


THE   OLD   paths: — A   CONSECRATION   SERMON,    PREACHED   IN 
VIRGINIA    AND    NORTH   CAROLINA. 


Jeeemiau  VI.  16. 

"Thus  saith  the  Loed,  stand  ye  in  the  ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old 
pa'..ha,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to 
your  souls. "'^ 

In  selecting  this  passage  of  Scripture  for  the  edification  of 
the  dav,  I  am  actuated,  my  bretbren,  with  an  earnest  desire 
for  vour  establisliment  in  tbe  right  ways  of  the  Lord;  and  I 
think  that  its  plain  application  to  the  present  religious  con- 
dition of  the  country  will  enable  me  to  make  such  an  im- 
provement of  it  as  shall  tend  to  confirm  you  in  the  good  way, 
and  be  profitable  also  to  all  others  who  are  disposed  to  weigh 
truth  and  reason  in  the  balances  of  the  sanctuary,  rather  than 
ill  the  scales  of  prejudice  and  passion. 

*  Amongst  the  manuscripts  of  the  Bishop,  there  were  found  two  sermons 
upon  this  text,  both  having  his  mark  of  assent  to  their  publication.  The 
first  appears  to  have  been  composed  in  182"2,  and  to  have  been  preached  at 
the  opening  of  Mount  Laurel  Church,  Halifax  County,  Va.  The  second  ser- 
mon is  substantially  the  same  with  the  first,  being  evidently  a  transcript 
from  it,  and  was  preached  at  Warrenton,  N.  C,  in  1824,  and  afterwards  at 
several  other  places.  The  sermons  being  the  same  as  to  division,  course  of 
argument,  style  of  illustration,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the  phraseology,  it 
was  deemed  expedient  to  print  only  the  last.  How  thej'  could  have  escaped 
the  notice  of  the  lamented  author;  or  why,  if  he  knowingly  left  them  both 
in  the  parcel  of  sermons  designed  for  publication,  he  should  not  have  placed 
upon  them  some  disci"iminating  mark  to  show  whiclx  had  his  preference,  or 
have  declared,  if  he  wished  a  collation  of  the  two,  in  order  to  give  the  very 
few  passages  in  which  tliey  ditler,  cannot  now  be  explained.  Possibly  the 
manuscripts  were  revised  at  different  intervals  during  his  sickness,  and  tiie 
fact  that  one  had  received  his  "imprimatur"  (for  upon  all  the  manuscripts 
revised  by  him  and  designed  for  publication,  was  written  in  hig  own  hand, 
"imprimatur,  J.  S.  R.")  escaped  his  memory,  when  be  examined  the  last. 
The  most  recent,  and  that  which  had  been  most  frequently  preached,  is  tlie 
one  here  presented  to  the  reader,  in  conformity  with  what  in  all  probability 
would  have  been  the  author's  decision. 


428  THE   OLD   PATHS. 

A  short  view  of  the  circumstances  under  which  tlie  ex- 
iiortation  in  my  text  was  delivered,  will  enable  us  the  better 
to  apprehend  the  nature  and  necessity  of  the  awakening  ap- 
peal herein  made  by  the  Almighty  to  his  people,  and  through 
them  to  the  Cliristian  world. 

Nothing  could  be  more  convincing  and  satisfactory  than 
those  evidences  on  wliich  the  nation  of  the  Jews  received 
and  held  their  religion  in  all  its  appointments,  as  the  express 
and  positive  direction  of  the  wisdom  of  God;  neither  is  any 
thing  more  clear  than  that,  notwitlistanding  this  certainty, 
they  had  forsaken  the  "fountain  of  living  waters,"  and  in  the 
pride  and  vanity  uf  their  minds,  "had  hewed  out  to  them- 
selves cisterns,  but  they  wei'e  broken  cistei'iis,  whicli  could 
hold  no  water."  By  this  figure,  the  prophet  would  denote 
to  us  their  departure  from  the  law  and  the  testimony — their 
abandoning  the  prescribed  service  of  the  sanctuary,  and  those 
means  of  grace  in  that  form  of  worship  to  which  the  blessing 
was  expressly  limited.  Tired,  we  may  suppose,  of  tlie  uni- 
formity, the  sameness,  of  their  mode  of  worship,  and  vainly 
thinking  to  amend  and  improve  what  Jehovah  himself  had 
minutely  enacted,  and  commanded  to  be  observed,  tiie  charm 
of  novelty  gave  strength  to  the  spirit  of  innovation,  until 
confusion  and  every  evil  work  abounded,  and  corruption 
filled  up  its  measure  in  tlie  idolatrous  worship  of  the  work 
of  their  own  hands — "Saying  to  a  stock,  thou  art  my  father, 
and  to  a  stone,  thou  hast  brought  me  forth."  Even  the  min- 
istry became  corrupt.  "The  prophets  prophesied  falsely^ 
and  the  people  loved  to  have  it  so.  The  priests  said  not, 
where  is  the  Loed!  The  pastors  also  transgressed  against 
me,  and  tiie  prophets  propiiesied  by  Baal,  and  walked  after 
tilings  which  do  not  profit." 

Yet  there  is  a  place  of  repentance  for  nations  as  well  as 
individuals,  my  hearers.  In  this  extremity  God  remembered 
his  mercy  and  truth  to  Isi-ael,  and  sent  his  servant  Jeremiah 
to  show  them  their  folly  and  wickedness,  to  warn  them  of 
their  danger,  and  to  call  them  back  to  that  appointed  duty 
and  service,  "which  was  given  to  Jacob  for  a  law,  and  to 
Israel  for  a  testimony."  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  stand  ye  in 
the  ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the 
good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your 


THE   OLD   PATHS.  429 

souls."  The  point  pressed  upon  their  attention  in  this  mes- 
sage, was  consideration,  comparison  of  their  state  with  the 
standard  of  God's  word,  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  tlieir  in- 
stitutions from  him,  and  according  thereto,  to  return  to  that 
from  wliich  they  were  departed,  as  the  only  safe  ground  of 
comfort  and  assurance;  and  as  the  same  principle  applies 
equally  to  us  under  the  gospel,  a  similar  examination,  com- 
parison and  agreement  with  its  requirements,  is  the  only  true 
source  of  peace  to  our  souls. 

In  discoursing  on  these  words,  therefore,  on  this  occasion, 
I  shall,  in  the 

First  place,  take  a  view  of  the  present  state  of  religion 
among  us. 

Secondly,  I  shall  inquire  into,  and  endeavor  to  point  out, 
the  causes  of  that  decline  in  the  profession  and  practice  of 
Christianity,  which  must  be  obvious  to  all;  and, 

Conclude  with  an  application  of  the  subject. 

I.  First,  As  to  the  present  state  of  religion  among  us. 

As  it  will  necessarily  be  helpful  to  our  understanding  the 
subject  projDcrly,  to  settle  some  definite  meaning  of  the  word 
religion,  I  shall  preface  what  I  have  to  say  on  these  heads  of 
discourse  with  this  inquiry.  Indeed,  so  many  and  so  various 
are  the  notions  now  entertained,  both  of  the  word  and  of  the 
thing,  that  its  original  meaning  is  nearly  sunk  into  obscuri- 
ty, and  there  are  numbers  of  Christians  who  have  never  asked 
themselves  the  meaning  either  of  the  word  or  the  thing  which 
they  profess. 

The  word  religion,  in  its  higliest  sense,  means  the  moral 
quality  of  conformity  to  tlie  divine  nature  in  the  dispositions 
and  desires  of  the  heart;  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man, 
communicated  through  the  grace  of  tlie  gospel.  In  a  lower 
sense,  it  means  that  method  which  God  himself  has  appoint- 
ed for  the  attainment  of  this  great  end  in  sinful  mortals.  In 
this  practical  definition  of  the  word,  we  are  furnished  with  a 
safe  standard  to  which  to  bring  every  religious  nution,  by 
which  to  try  all  religious  conduct.  The  right  or  the  wrong 
in  doctrine  and  practice,  is  not  made  to  depend  on  the  falli- 
ble and  varying  ground  of  human  opinion,  but  is  bounded 
and  determined  hy  the  unerring  wisdom  and  unchangeable 
nature  of  revealed  truth.     And  to  us  in  particular,  who  are 


430  THE   0L13   PATUe*. 

blessed  with  the  clear  light  of  revelation,  is  this  standard 
given,  to  which,  as  to  a  lig-ht  shining  in  a  dark  place,  wo 
would  do  well  to  take  heed.  To  this  light  ninst  I  bring  the 
examination  before  me,  and  by  this,  my  brethren  and  hear- 
ers, must  you  not  only  examine  yourselves  now,  but  be  ex- 
amined and  judged  too  in  the  great  day  of  eternity. 

In  a  concern  of  such  infinite  importance  as  the  salvation 
of  our  immortal  souls,  it  is  reasonable,  I  think,  to  presume, 
that  where  all  are  provided  with  the  means,  all  would  be  ear- 
nestlj'  engaged  in  the  attainment  of  the  end. 

Now,  my  hearers,  is  it  thus  AVitli  us,  either  collectively  or 
individually?  Is  the  public  countenance  given  to  the  gospel, 
such  as  denominates  us  a  Christian  nation,  or  is  it  tiiat  of 
mere  acknowledgment  and  sufferance?  Is  the  way,  tiie  truth, 
and  the  life,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  the  strait  and  the  narrow  way 
that  leadeth  unto  life  for  this  people,  as  much  regarded  and 
cared  for  as  the  way  to  market?  Alas,  my  friends,  we  do 
not  barely  suffer  and  tolerate  what  we  esteem  and  love,  w^e 
do  not  usually  neglect  what  we  consider  necessary  and  pro- 
fitable. And  the  power  being  in  the  hands  of  the  people, 
the  character  of  all  public  acts,  whether  positive  or  negative, 
must  be  referred  to  them,  and  taken  as  indicating  their  spe- 
cial intention.  May  God  then  be  merciful  to  us  as  a  nation, 
for  if  heaven  were  to  search  our  public  records  I  know  not 
where  the  proofs  would  be  found  of  our  regard  for  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom.  I  know  not  what  more  could  be  pro- 
duced than  jealousy  of  a  hurtful,  or  permission  of  a  harmless 
thing. 

But  while  I  thus  unburden  my  conscience  in  the  perform- 
ance of  my  duty  towards  your  souls,  I  am  not  re(|uired  to  ex- 
pose myself  either  to  misapprehension  or  misrepresentation, 
more  especially  as,  from  n]y  official  statioii,  the  reproach  would 
extend  beyond  myself.  Let  no  man,  therefore,  draw  from 
this  honest  exposure  of  public  neglect  on  the  dearest  interest 
of  man,  the  unfounded  inference  that  I  am  an  advocate  for  a 
public  establishment  of  religion,  in  some  of  its  many  forms, 
and  preferably,  in  that  which  I  myself  profess;  for  it  is  un- 
warranted, either  from  the  words  I  have  used,  or  from  the 
fact,  as  declared  with  sincerity  and  solemnity.  No,  my  friends, 
far,  for  ever  distant  from  my  heart,  my  head,  and  my  hands, 


THE   OLD    PATHS.  431 

and  from  the  hearts,  and  heads,  and  hands  of  those  who  think 
witli  ine  in  religion,  be  the  unscriptural  and  injurious  desire 
and  design  of  an  establishment  of  the  Church  by  the  State. 
For  ever  removed  from  us,  be  the  base  suggestion  of  throw- 
ing a  political  disqualification  over  any  shade  of  Christian 
opinion,  and  thereby  enticing  men  to  become  hypocrites.  IsTo, 
my  bretliren,  "the  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal  but 
spiritual."  Force,  of  any  kind,  is  unknown  to  religion,  is  in- 
deed impossible,  in  its  application  to  any  thing  moral  and 
spiritual,  and  wherever  attempted  has  proved  injurious.  No, 
my  hearers,  I  would  not  meet  the  wildest  fanatic  among  us, 
with  an  arm  of  power  in  any  shape,  but  with  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  the  weapons  of  reason,  "the  armour  of  righteous- 
ness, on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left."  These  the  wisdom 
of  God  hath  provided  for  the  support  and  defence  of  his 
cause  in  the  world,  and  no  other  do  I  wish  to  wield;  they  are 
mighty  through  God,  to  the  putting  down  the  strong  holds 
both  of  sin  and  error,  and  must  prevail. 

But  it  does  not  follow,  that  because  an  establishment  is  in- 
jurious, and  renounced,  Christian  States  are  under  no  obli- 
gation, and  have  no  other  means  compatible  with  religious 
freedom,  to  provide  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  people, 
and  thus  manifest  public  regard  for  the  gospel — for  it  is  not 
so.  It  is  amply  within  their  reach — and  I  for  one  think  it 
their  first  duty,  even  in  a  political  view;  but  the  plan  is  no 
part  of  this  day's  work. 

Let  us  next  inquire  into  our  religious  condition  as  individ- 
uals, whether  public  neglect  is  compensated  by  the  personal 
I'egard  manifested  for  the  gospel. 

To  this,  there  is  unhappily  an  answer  before  me  in  this 
congregation,  which  is  awfully  conclusive.  What  proportion 
of  those  now  p^resent  are  known  to  any  profession  of  religion? 
How  many  are  able  to  rise  up  and  say,  "I  have  sought  the 
LoKD  and  he  heard  me,"  I  have  obtained  a  good  hope  through 
grace?  O  that  I  were  put  to  silence  by  a  general  burst  from 
every  heart,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  for  I  have 
experienced  the  power  of  his  resurrection. 

But  this  may  be  a  singular  case — 'how  stands  it  tlien  at 
large?  What  are  the  prevailing  pursuits  of  all  classes  among 
us?     Do   they  savor   of  heaven  or  of  earthy  of  God  or  O'f 


432  THE   OLD   PATHS. 

Maniraon?  Let  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  in  every 
possible  way,  bear  witness — let  the  neglect  of  the  public 
worship  of  God  bear  witness — let  the  absence,  in  many 
neighborhoods,  of  all  provision  for  that  worship,  and  for  re- 
ligious instruction,  bear  witness — let  the  general  abandon- 
ment of  family  religion,  and  the  consequent  ignorance  of 
God,  and  of  his  saving  mercy,  in  which  young  people  now 
grow  up,  bear  witness — and  let  its  decline  in  the  families  of 
professing  Christians,  bear  witness.  IS^eed  we  be  surprised, 
my  brethren,  at  the  growth  of  profaneness,  intemperance, 
and  covetousness — at  the  prevalence  of  the  world  and  the 
flesh — at  the  unfeeling  rapacity  with  which  the  unfortunate 
and  necessitous  are  ground  to  powder,  on  the  nether  mill- 
stone of  a  human  heart,  untouched  by  the  influence  of  re- 
ligion? No  indeed,  such  are  its  proper  but  bitter  fruits. 
*'Men  do  not  gather  grapes  from  thorns,  nor  figs  from  thistles." 
Neither  ought  we,  my  friends,  to  expect  religion  to  bear  sway 
over  the  conduct  of  those  who  are  brougiit  up  without  re- 
ligious instruction  and  example.  Alas,  we  too  often  see  it 
yield,  and  give  way  to  these  temptations,  in  tiiose  who  pro- 
fess its  power. 

If  such,  then,  are  the  miserable  effects  of  the  neglect  of 
the  gospel,  if  such  is  the  dangerous  precipice  to  which  the 
road  we  ha,ve  followed  has  brought  us,  shall  we  persevere  and 
leap  over  into  perdition?  or  shall  we  hear  the  words  of  my 
text,  as  those  of  a  friend  in  extremity,  and  stop  short,  and 
stand  in  the  ways  and  see  if  there  be  not  a  better,  and  inquire 
out  that  good  way  in  which  only  there  is  rest  for  our  souls? 
As  a  nation,  God  hath  .done  great  things  for  us,  and  not  the 
least  in  causing  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  to  shine  unto 
us.  As  individuals,  he  hath  done  us  good,  and  not  evil,  all 
the  days  of  our  life.  Stand  forth  the  man  witli  whom  God 
hath  not  dealt  more  mercifully  than  his  own  conscience  tells 
him  he  might  most  justly  have  done;  and  let  the  hard  heart 
melt  to  penitence  under  the  goodness  of  God  our  Saviour. 
Let  us  not  renew  the  sin  of  Israel,  my  brethren  and  friends, 
and  have  it  said  of  us  as  of  them,  "Hear  O  heavens,  and  give 
ear  0  earth,  for  the  Loed  hath  spoken — I  have  nourished  and 
brought  up  children  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me.  The 
ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib;'  but 
Israel  doth  not  know,  my  people  doth  not  consider." 


THE  OLD   PATHS.  433 

II.  Secondly,  I  am  to  inquire  into,  and  endeavor  to  ])oint 
out,  the  causes  of  that  decline  in  the  profession  and  practice 
ef  religion,  which  must  be  obvious  to  all. 

On  this  head  of  my  discourse,  it  might  perhaps  be  suf- 
ficient to  assume  the  general  principle  of  unbelief,  as  in  it- 
self productive  of  all  the  vice  and  immorality  that  can  be 
imagined;  because,  where  the  sense  of  accountability  is  dis- 
missed, or  smothered  up,  where  this  life  is  practically  the 
boundary  of  our  expectations,  and  the  object  of  onr  exertions, 
its  profits  and  its  pleasures  become  the  god  whom  we  worship; 
its  applause  or  its  reproach  the  object  of  our  hopes  and  of 
our  teal's,  and  its  enjoyments  and  gratifications  the  reward 
which  we  covet. 

But  even  unbelief  itself,  though  the  natural  fruit  of  the 
carnal  mind;  is  matured  and  ripened  into  infidelitj^,  by  causes 
acting  from  without,  and  even  by  causes  operating  by  in- 
tention for  its  removal.  For  as  faitli  cometh  by  hearing,  so 
likewise  doth  infidelity  find  nourishment,  both  by  hearing 
and  by  refusing  to  hear.  By  ascertaining  those  causes  then, 
and  by  making  some  fair  and  reasonable  estimate  of  their 
influence  on  the  human  mind,  we  shall  so  meet  this  inquiry, 
as  to  find  a  remedy  against  it. 

The  first,  and  that  to  which  all  the  others  may,  in  a  good 
degree,  be  referred,  is  the  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment of  any  and  all  provision  for  public  instruction  in  re- 
ligion; and  w^hether  we  consider  this  as  the  result  of  design, 
or  rather  as  the  unfortunate  consequence  of  a  combination 
of  fortuitous  circumstances,  whose  bearing  was  new,  and 
could  not  be  calculated,  the  efifect  is  nevertheless  the  same. 
Example  will  descend,  whether  in  governments  or  in  in- 
dividuals. 

That  a  country  professing  Christianity,  all  whose  institu- 
tions are  bottomed  on  its  divine  original,  should  thus  lose 
sight  of  an  object  of  such  vital  importance,  is  an  anomaly 
without  a  parallel.  That  on  the  issue  of  a  plausible  but  un- 
tried theory,  should  be  staked  all  that  can  encourage  virtue 
and  repress  vice — all  that  can  give  to  hope  its  encourage- 
ment, and  to  fear  its  efiect,  the  very  basis  of  governing  power, 
and  required  submission  in  civil  society — was  an  experiment 
hazardous  in  the  extreme,  and  will,  I  fear,  be  found  injurious 
[Vol.  1,— *28.] 


4:34:  THE   OLD    PATHS. 

in  the  issue,  and  destructive  of  that  form  of  government  iD 
whose  favor  it  was  made.  It  seems  not  to  have  been  con- 
sidered, that  to  fallen  man  religion  is  a  forced  state,  not  the- 
natural  production  of  the  soil;  and  although  enforced  by  the 
most  tremendous  sanctions  which  can  be  applied  to  intel- 
ligent beings,  yet  withou  tcareful  instruction  and  diligent  cul- 
tivation, it  cannot  even  exist,  much  less  grow  and  flourish. 
And  that  the  effect  has  been  deleterious,  and  is  increasing  in 
its  evil  influence,  must  be  acknowledged  by  all  who  have  eye& 
to  see,  and  ears  to  hear,  the  immorality  and  profaneness  of 
high  and  low,  rich  and  poor.  In  the  fact,  my  friends,  there- 
can  be  no  mistake,  whatever  there  may  be  tkought  to  be,  in 
the  cause  to  which  it  is  here  in  part  ascribed;  and  it  is  surely 
deserving  the  attention  of  all  classes,  in  what  way  an  evil  of 
so  great  magnitude,  and  which  threatens  to  sweep  before  it 
all  that  is  dear  and  valuable  in  social  life,  may  be  arrested, 
and  the  miseries  which  must  follow,  both  in  time  and  in 
eternity,  be  averted. 

The  external  appearance  of  a  people  may  be  fair  and 
flourishing,  my  brethren;  every  thing  may  smile  upon  them, 
and  their  comparative  condition  be  the  theme  of  exultation 
to  them,  and  of  desire  to  others;  yet  if  the  fear  of  God  is  not 
cultivated,  if  his  woi-ship,  both  public  and  private,  is  neglect- 
ed, if  the  mass  of  the  community  sit  loose  to  the  claims  of 
the  gospel  upon  a  Christian  people,  and  the  influence  of  re- 
ligion is  owned  and  felt  but  by  here  one,  and  there  another^ 
there  is  a  worm  at  the  root  of  this  flourishing  tree,  which 
will  blast  its  greenness,  blight  its  blossoms,  wither  its  fruity 
and  in  the  end  lay  it  low  and  leafless  on  the  ground.  If  we 
would  avert  this  ruin,  then;  if  we  would  say  -to  our  country, 
be  thou  perpetual;  if  we  would  leave  to  our  children  the  fair 
and  fruitful,  and  free  and  peaceful  inheritance  our  fathers 
left  us,  we  must  turn  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  for  the  good 
way  of  God's  holy  fear,  reverence  of  his  sacred  name,  en- 
couragement of  his  commanded  worship,  and  trust  in  his 
redeeming  love.  Then  will  the  banner  of  his  Almighty  pro- 
tection be  over  us;  we  shall  find  rest  here  from  the  turmoils 
and  confusions  of  an  agitated  world,  and  rest  to  our  souls 
forever,  in  the  security  and  safety  of  that  kingdom  which 
shall  know  no  end. 


THE   OLD   PATHS.  435 

A  second  cause,  to  which  I  would  ascribe  the  decline  of 
religion  among  us,  is  the  divisions  among  those  who  profess 
and  call  themselves  by  the  Christian  name. 

This,  though  an  evil  unavoidable  in  the  present  condition 
of  man,  and  pronounced  such  by  the  author  of  our  religion 
himself,  is  nevertheless  not  therefore  excusable  in  those  who 
divide.  "Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offences.  It  must 
needs  be  that  offences  come;  but  woe  unto  that  man  by  whom 
the  offence  cometh."  That  the  word  offence  here  used  by 
our  Lord,  means  stumbling  block,  something  that  perverts 
from  the  truth,  an  occasion  of  difference  and  division  in  re- 
ligion, is  plain  from  the  context.  Indeed  this  is  the  true 
meaning  of  the  word  throughout  the  New  Testament.  It 
therefore  presents  an  awful  lesson  to  all  beginners  of  new 
systems  in  religion,  and,  in  proportion,  to  all  who  are  induced 
to  follow  them. 

By  divisions  in  religion,  its  unity  is  broken,  its  evidences 
weakened,  its  effects  counteracted.  This  was  well  known  to 
the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  and  therefore  so  expressly 
denounced.  It  was  also  well  known  to  the  enemy  oi  God 
and  man,  and  therefore  so  perseveringly  prompted  by  every 
temptation  which  could  lead  to  such  an  end,  not  only  through 
the  more  sinful  passions  of  our  nature,  but  even  through 
piety  itself.  Unity  being  the  indelible  nature  of  divine 
triith,  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  it  should  be  such,  either 
in  variation  from  or  opposition  to  itself.  And  as  it  is  divine 
truth  to  us,  only  by  or  through  the  authority  of  God  for  its 
announcement;  whatever  separates  or  divides  it  from  this, 
defeats  its  character  of  unity,  weakens  the  evidence  of  its 
claim,  and  destroys  its  influence,  not  perhaps  as  truth,  but 
as  divine  truth — truth  in  which  our  souls  are  concerned. 

That  this  is  the  effect  produced  in  the  present  day,  is  wit- 
nessed to  us,  not  only  by  the  serious  confession  of  many, 
that  it  operates  against  the  reality  of  religion  in  their  minds, 
in  such  wise  as  to  paralyze  all  its  other  proofs,  but  also,  by 
producing  such  confusion  of  mind,  as  to  which  of  the  many 
divisions  is  the  true  kingdom  of  the  Saviour,  that  the  inves- 
tigation is  abandoned  in  despair,  and  thereafter,  with  all  its 
mighty  realities,  committed  to  chance.  And  this  I  am  per- 
suaded would  prove  to  bo  the  fact,  with  nine  out  of  ten  of 


436  THE   OLD   PATHS. 

those  who  take  no  concern  with  the  gospel,  were  they  seri- 
ouslj  asked,  and  would  as  seriously  answer,  why  they  remain, 
either  opposed  or  indifferent,  to  so  lively  a  hope  as  is  therein 
given  to  man.  Sin,  tliough  the  element  of  fallen  man,  is  yet 
a  troublesome  comj)anion,  my  friends,  at  the  first.  Con- 
science will  speak,  and,  if  not  listened  to,  must  be  silenced 
in  some  way,  and  what  readier,  or  more  generally  attempted 
way,  than  to  get  clear,  some  how,  of  God's  revelation  against 
it;  and  what  more  convenient  a  resort  than  the  disagreement 
of  Christians,  as  an  argument  against  religion? 

There  is  another  mode,  however,  in  which  the  divisions 
among  Christians  operate  to  the  decline  of  religion  in  the 
world,  and  this,  under  the  specious  pretence  of  advancing  its 
interests. 

Well  disposed  men,  seeing  many  pious  and  estimable  per- 
sons of  every  denomination,  have  hastily  concluded,  that 
there  was  no  difference,  but  m  the  mere  name;  others  again 
have  gone  so  far  as  to  insist,  in  the  very  teeth  of  scripture, 
that  a  variety  in  religious  belief  was  just  as  pleasing  to  God, 
and  as  much  his  design,  as  the  other  varieties  visible  in  his 
works.     Hence  the  modern  doctrine  of  liberality  as  to  opin- 
ions, and  modes  of  faith;  and  hence,  as  a  natural  consequence, 
total  indifference  to  religion  in  any  shape;  for  I  believe  the 
fact  is  without  contradiction,  that  these  holders  of  liberal 
opinions  always  stand  aloof  from  religion,  in  any  tangible 
shape.    Nor  can  it  well  be  otherwise.    The  man  who  can 
think  all  right,  in  the  sense  of  being  true,  in  the  mass  of  dis- 
cordant religious  opinion  professed  in  the  world,  cannot  pos- 
sibly respect  any  particular  one,  so  much,  as  really  to  em- 
brace it.     Yet  experience  and  observation  tell  us,  my  breth- 
ren, that  it  is  a  captivating  doctrine,  and  a  growing  opinion. 
All  denominations  wish  to  be  thought  right  and  true;  but  as 
this  is  beyond  the  reach  of  any  credulity,  without  the  help 
of  this  soul-killing  deceit  of  liberality,  therefore  it  is  hailed 
and  applauded,  pretty  much  in  proportion  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  their  need  of  it.     But,  my  brethren,  it  is  a  most  fatal 
deceit,  the  very  Moloch  of  truth,  and  to  be  shunned  at  every 
hazard;  for  fire  does  not  more  certainly  consume  the  stubble, 
than  those  pestilent  notions  eat  out  the  very  life  of  religion 
in  the  soul. 


THE  OLD   PATHS.  437 

It  has  also  become  common  to  blend  the  Christian  doc- 
trine of  charity  with  this  modern  notion  of  liberality  of  opin- 
ion. They  have,  however,  in  truth,  no  more  connexion  than 
light  and  darkness.  Christian  charity,  whether  considered 
as  a  frame  of  mind,  or  as  an  active  duty,  has  no  application 
to  opinions,  no  connexion  with  them — it  applies  solely  to 
persons.  With  an  erroneous  or  unscriptural  doctrine  in  reli- 
gion, the  Christian  is  to  have  no  connexion — on  the  contrary, 
he  is  bound  to  oppose  it.  But  with  the  person  holding  it,  he 
is  bound,  at  the  peril  of  his  own  soul,  to  be  in  charity,  that 
is,  not  only  to  wish,  but  to  do  him  good;  any  other  view  of 
this  doctrine  is  erroneous — defeats,  and  renders  it  impossible 
as  a  Christian  duty;  but  thus  understood  and  applied,  it  is 
equal  to  all  the  great  things  spoken  of  it,  and  is  the  only 
pi'inciple  that  can  maintain  peace  in  the  divisions  among 
Christians,  without  sacrificing  religion.  This  is  the  old  path, 
in  which  the  primitive  professors  of  charity  walked,  and  it 
is  the  good  way,  into  which  we  should  do  well  to  return, 
from  the  broad  but  deceitful  road  of  a  spurious  liberality. 

A  third  most  fruitful  cause  of  the  decline  of  religion,  nmst 
be  referred  to  the  character  and  qualifications  of  those  act- 
ing as  its  ministers. 

To  keep  up  in  the  minds  of  men  the  reverence  due  to  reli- 
gion, and  thus  to  gain  their  attention  to  its  .outward  minis- 
trations, it  is  essential  that  those  who  appear  as  its  ministers 
should  command  respect,  not  only  from  their  sacred  ofiice, 
from  their  piety  and  zeal,  but  from  their  acquirements  in 
learning,  and  ability  to  fill  tlie  post  of  public  instructers.  To 
see  the  gospel  of  our  salvation  in  the  hands  of  an  incompe- 
tent ministry,  is  the  readiest  and  surest  way  to  defeat  the 
influence  <»f  divine  truth  in  the  religion  of  Chkist.  It  is  not 
in  tlie  nature  of  things,  that  persons  of  information — men  of 
cultivated  minds — should  listen  with  any  expectation  of  pro- 
fit, or  even  with  patience,  to  the  unconnected  efi'usions  of 
ignorant  men,  however  well  intentioned  they  may  be;  and 
this  may  serve  to  account  for  the  melancholy  fact,  that  nearly 
all  of  this  description  of  persons  have  withdrawn  themselves 
from  ministrations  in  which  neither  their  understandings,  or 
their  feelings,  could  take  any  part;  and  the  awful  consequence 
has  been,  not  only  an  accession  to  the  ranks  of  infidelity  and 


438  THE   OLD   PATHS. 

irreligion,  of  these  men  themselves,  but  of  others  also,  after 
their  example,  who  had  not  the  same  excuse,  if  it  may  be  &o 
considered. 

But  incompetent  men  cannot  long  keep  their  iiold,  even 
upon  the  ignorant  and  uninformed,  without  some  delusion  of 
a  fanatical  character.  Hence  the  claim  of  supernatural  in- 
spiration for  their  preachers,  wliich  some  of  the  denomina- 
tions set  up,  and  which  is  insinuated  and  asserted  by  some 
of  the  preachers  for  themselves,  in  a  variety  of  ways;  while 
no  pains  is  taken,  by  the  body  to  which  they  belong,  either 
to  correct  the  delusion  or  to  repress  the  practice.  This  is  the 
charm  which  draws  out  crowds  after  men,  who  possess  no 
single  qualification,  good  intention  perhaps  excepted,  for  this 
most  responsible  office;  and  thus  ignorance  and  delusion  are 
extended  and  increased.  The  imagination,  that  spiritual 
power,  in  a  preternatural  sense,  is  lodged  in  particular  men, 
produces  its  proper  fruit,  and  heated  minds  are  excited  to 
give  witness  to  this  delusion,  by  yielding  to  its  operations 
upon  themselves. 

In  aid  of  this  claim,  the  arguments  and  example  of  primi- 
tive times  are  boldly  assumed,  Nothing  more  common  than 
this  defence,  of  this  every  way  indefensible  delusion.  They 
will  tell  you  triumphantly,  that  "God  hath  chosen  the  weak 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  strong,  and  the  foolish 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise."  They  will  appeal 
to  the  uneducated  ignorance  of  our  Lord's  apostles,  and  tell 
you  that  they  were  poor  fishermen  and  tradesmen.  And  so 
indeed  they  were,  and  for  the  very  purpose,  "that  the  excel- 
lency of  the  power  might  be  of  God,  and  not  of  men,"  in  the 
spread  and  establishment  of  the  gospel.  But  they  forget,  or 
overlook,  that  these  poor  and  ignorant  fishermen,  to  qualify 
them  to  preach  the  gospel,  were  miraculously  educated — that 
they  became  linguists,  philosophers,  and  divines,  in  the  school 
of  the  Holy  Ghost — that  by  one  pentecostal  out-pouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  they  were  enlightened  to  understand  and 
apply  the  Scriptures  unerringly,  to  speak  to  every  people  in 
their  own  language,  and  to  convince  gainsayers,  by  those 
miraculous  powers  which  were  the  proper  evidence  that  the 
gospel  was  the  truth  of  God,  and  themselves  his  only  ambas- 
sadors to  this  world  of  sinners.    They  forget  that  all  these 


THE  OLD   PATKS.  439 

Wonders  were  for  a  special  pm*pose,  and  were  not  to  continue 
—"Whether  there  be  tongues,  thej  shall  cease,"^ — ^and  that 
the  purpose  being  answered  in  the  establishment  of  the  gos= 
pel,  miracles  were  withdrawn  from  the  Church.  And  they 
are  wihully  ignorant,  that  under  an  established  gospel,  an 
authentic  Scripture,  a  visible  Church,  and  instituted  mean$> 
of  grace,  the  ordinary  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  all 
that  we  are  to  look  for,  whether  for  private  or  public  useful' 
ness  in  the  Church — as  also,  that  it  is  true  beyond  the  possi' 
bihty  of  contradiction,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  calls  no  man  to 
the  ministry,  who  i«  not  qualified  with  the  necessary  know= 
-ledge,  or  who  possesses  not  the  means  and  the  desire  to  ob-- 
tain  it. 

While  this  delusion,  therefore,  is  countenanced,  even  with 
a  tacit  avowal  of  its  fallacy  on  the  part  of  better  informed 
Christians,  it  will  oj^erate  with  great  force  against  the  reli^ 
gion  it  is  intended  to  suj^port.  It  must  increase  infldelityj 
because  it  contradicts  our  senses.  Our  ears,  oui*  eyes,  our 
understandings,  all  concur  in  denying  the  truth  of  this  claim-, 
by  whomsoever  now  made,  and  it  leaves  a  fearful  taint  of 
unbelief  on  the  mind  against  that  religion  whose  f>nblic  min- 
ister is  thus  found  either  deceived  himself  or  trying  to  de^ 
ceive  others.  It  is  impossible  that  religion  should  be  respect- 
■ed  in  such  hands,  and  if  not  respected,  it  will  soon  be  thrown 
aside. 

A  fourth  cause  of  the  decline  of  religion,  and  with  which 
I  shall  conclude,  is,  transient  and  occasional  preaching. 

The  object  of  a  preached  gospel,  is  instruction  in  righteous* 
ness,  impression  upon  the  heart,  and  direction  in  the  way  of 
life;  and  the  object  of  a  fixed  ministry  in  the  Church,  is  to 
watch  for  the  souls  given  in  charge,  to  provide  food  for  each 
in  due  season,  and  suitable  to  the  condition;  and  by  jiersonal 
intercourse  to  \ye  examples  to  the  flock.  Kone  of  which  are 
compatible  with  a  transient  wandering  ministry.  No  inters 
est  is  felt  like  that  of  a  pastor  for  his  flock,  by  the  man  who 
is  here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow;  his  object  is  too  general, 
too  diftuse,  to  occupy  his  heart  with  a  special  object  of  care 
and  inspection.  Nor  can  any  of  that  close  connexion  exist 
between  the  flock  and  their  pastor,  which  is  so  pleasant  and 
BO  profitable  to  both.     "The  good  shepherd  calleth  his  owii 


440  THE   OLD   PATHS. 

sheep  by  name,  and  he  goeth  before  them,  and  the  sheep 
follow  him."  Yes,  and  he  feedeth  the  lambs  of  the  flock — 
all  which  is  impossible  to  the  transient  preacher. 

Occasional  preachisg  also  leares  many  intervals  in  which 
there  is  no  supply.  In  these  cases  the  effect  dies  away,  in- 
struction is  forgotten,  the  spirit  declines,  and  the  work  is  to 
do  over.  Thus,  like  a  door  turning  upon  its  hinges,  they  veer 
to  this  side  and  to  that,  but  never  move  out  of  the  place. 

As  a  necessary  consequence  of  transient  and  occasional 
preaching,  disagreement  in  doctrine,  and  opposition  in  prac- 
tice, among  the  preachers  of  the  different  denominations, 
will  be  sure  to  follow,  as  will  also  the  effect  in  minds  con^- 
fused,  bewildered,  and  unsettled,  on  the  truths  of  religion, 
until  unbelief  steps  in,  and  sweeps  them  all  into  equal  con- 
tempt and  oblivion. 

To  expect,  then,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  under  such  a 
state  of  things,  a  flourishing  state  of  religion,  of  rational, 
scriptural  religion,  would  be  the  folly  of  looking  for  an  effect 
without  its  cause,  or  that  a  cause  should  operate  different 
from  its  nature.  "Whether  those  which  I  have  pointed  out 
are  suflicient  to  account  for  that  decline  in  religion  wliich  we 
nmst  all  deplore,  is  for  you  to  judge,  as  it  also  is  for  you  to 
consider,  how  far  you  are  bound,  in  the  value  of  your  souls', 
to  strive  for  its  correction.  I  can  but  show  the  evil,  and  ex- 
hort you  to  apply  the  remedy,  the  only  remedy — "stand  ye 
in  the  ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the 
good  way,  and  walk  therein^  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your 
souls."  / 

As  an  application  of  what  has  been  said,  I  appeal  to  the 
experience  of  all  present,  for  the  truth  of  that  decline  in  re- 
ligion which  I  have  stated,  and  ask  them,  is  it  not  an  alarm- 
ing fact,  and  one  in  M-hich  tliey  are  most  deeply  interested, 
both  as  citizens  and  Christiansi  And  I  appeal  to  the  know- 
ledge and  observation  of  all  present,  for  the  sufficiency  of  the 
causes  I  have  assigned,  and  ask,  are  they  to  continue  to  ope- 
rate against  your  own  souls,  and  the  souls  of  your  children? 
Oh  what  a  fearful  delusion  has  come  upon  us,  and  how  con- 
tented we  are  under  its  death-doing  mischief.  Oh  what  an 
awful  prospect  is  there  before  the  rising  generation;  and  yet 
we  take  no  alarm.    And  shall  no  watchman  m  Zioa  take  the 


THE   OLD   PATHS.  441 

trumpet,  and  give  warning?  Yes,  there  shall  be  one,  who 
for  the  love  of  immortal  souls,  will  set  at  nought  misrepre- 
sentation and  reproach,  and  blow  an  awakening  note  through- 
out her  borders. 

But  it  may  be  said,  "Physician,  heal  thyself."  "Where  is 
the  remedy?  My  hearers,  will  you  apply  to  it,  will  you  take 
it  if  I  present  it?  Behold  it  then  in  my  text.  Let  us  return 
to  first  principles,  to  the  right  ways  of  the  Lokd.  It  is  an 
axiom  we  have  consecrated  in  political  science,  it  is  the  only 
remedy  for  a  wrong  road  in  the  wanderings  of  this  life.  It 
is  the  only  cure  of  religious  errors;  and  it  is  put  to  you  this 
day  as  the  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

In  exhorting  you  thus  to  turn  to  the  Lokd,  from  ways 
which  have  not  profited,  it  glads  my  heart,  my  brethren,  to 
be  able  to  say,  that  the  Church  of  your  fathers,  the  old  and 
good  way  in  which  they  found  rest  to  their  souls,  stands 
ready  to  receive  you,  and,  as  a  nursing  mother,  to  nourish 
you  with  sound  doctrine,  and  feed  your  souls  with  the  bread 
of  life.  Tliat  you  may  hear  her  counsel,  she  calls  upon  you 
to  consider  what  you  have  gained  by  casting  her  ofi";  what 
advance  you  have  made  in  religion  and  morals,  while  you 
have  been  living  without  her  ministry,  her  service,  her  ordi- 
nances, her  instruction — she  would  meekly  ask  you,  what 
have  you  profited,  as  to  your  souls,  by  the  new  ways  in  re- 
ligion which  have  been  proposed  and  pressed  upon  you?  O 
let  truth  be  heard  without  prejudice;  let  reason  judge  upon 
information;  let  experience  teach  by  observation;  let  Scrip- 
ture, the  word  of  God,  utter  its  warning  to  willing  ears;  let 
not  example  be  thrown  away.  But  as  God  hath  put  it  into 
the  hearts  of  the  contributors  to  this  building,  to  erect  a 
Church  to  his  name,  let  it  encourage  you  to  believe,  that  he 
is  yet  waiting  to  be  gracious.  It  is  indeed  but  a  little  one — 
Jacob  is  small,  but  Jacob's  God  can  make  of  a  little  one  a 
great  nation.  It  is  indeed  the  Church  in  the  wilderness,  but 
his  blessing  can  turn  the  wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field.  Yet 
he  works  by  instraments;  your  exertions,  as  well  as  your 
prayers,  are  called  for.  Ye  have  well  done  in  that  ye  have 
built  an  house  to  his  name.  But  to  be  profitable  to  you,  and 
honorable  to  him,  it  must  be  occupied,  and  attended  upon. 
Transient,  occasional  preaching  you  have  all  had  suflicient 


44:2  THE   OLD   PATHS. 

experience  of,  to  know  that  it  ends  in  listlessness  and  care- 
lessness, indifference  to  religion,  and  deadness  to  God. 

Put  forth  an  effort,  then,  in  your  own  behalf  and  in  behalf 
of  all  around;  let  not  faith  fail  and  God  be  dishonored,  through 
indolence  or  despair,  and  he  will  put  it  in  the  hearts  of  the 
ability,  as  to  this  world's  good,  wdiich  abounds  around  you, 
to  supply  this  mighty  void  in  your  otherwise  favored  con- 
dition. They  are  in  the  like  necessity,  and  we  cannot  think 
they  mean  to  continue  thus.  They  will  see  their  interest, 
they  will  see  their  duty,  and  give  themselves  to  the  glorious 
work  of  renovating  the  moral  condition  of  all  around  them, 
and  making  a  wilderness  of  sin  and  death,  of  ignorance  and 
error,  to  bud  and  blossom  as  the  rose,  the  desert  and  the  soli- 
tary place  to  become  vocal  with  the  praises  of  God;  and  pure 
and  undeiiled  religion  will  be  the  rich  legacy  they  bequeath 
to  their  children,  with  rest  to  their  own  souls  in  the  kingdom 
and  glory  of  our  Loed  Jesus  Cheist;  to  whom,  &c.  &c. 


SERMON   XYI. 


THE   KEAS0NABLENE8S   OF   KELIQION. 


1  Kings  xviii.  21. 

"And  Elijah  came  unto  all  the  people,  and  said,  How  long  halt  ye  be- 
tween two  opinions?  if  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  him;  But  if  Baal,  then  fol- 
low him." 

The  reasonableness  of  religion  is  the  reproach  of  those  who 
neglect  it;  and  the  benefits  it  proposes  and  confers  on  those 
who  embrace  and  follow  its  salutary  laws,  is  the  just  con- 
demnation of  all  who  are  not  led  by  its  sanctions  to  prefer 
the  interests  of  eternity  to  those  of  time;  and  so  to  prefer 
them,  as  to  manifest,  in  the  conduct  of  life,  that  what  is  high- 
est in  value,  and  first  in  importance,  is  chief  in  desire,  and 
foremost  in  pursuit. 

Now,  while  I  am  sure,  that  there  is  not  one  among  those 
to  whom  I  am  speaking  who  would  hesitate  a  moment  to  ac- 
knowledge their  belief  in  the  being  of  God,  and  the  conse- 
quent obligation  of  all  his  creatures  to  serve  and  please  him, 
I  would  ask  how  it  comes  to  pass,  nevertheless,  that  so  few 
are  infltienced,  in  any  degree,  by  this  so  universal  admission? 
To  this,  I  doubt  not,  that  some  would  return  one  kind  of  an- 
swer, some  another,  and  some  no  answer  at  all.  The  true 
answer,  however,  I  fancy,  will  be,  the  want  of  consideration, 
the  neglect  of  any  serious  examination  of  our  actual  condi- 
tion, and  of  the  truths  of  revelation,  as  connected  with  that 
condition. 

It  is  want  of  serious  reflection,  my  dear  hearers,  that  gives 
to  the  enemy  of  our  souls  his  chief  power  against  us,  and  en- 
ables him  to  array  the  world  and  the  things  that  are  in  it  in 
60  captivating  a  dress  as  to  be  taken,  by  many,  in  exchange 
for  the  favor  of  God  and  eternal  life  in  the  world  to  come. 

Yet  I  should  suppose,  that  if  any  thing  short  of  eternity 
can  bring  us  to  reflect  seriously,  it  must  be  the  end  that 
awaits  us,  when  this  world  and  all  its  deluding  promises  shall 


444  THE   REASONABLENESS   OF   EELIGION. 

pass  away  as  "a  dream  wlien  one  awaketh" — it  must  be  the 
reality  of  our  present  condition,  as  in  tlie  siglit  of  God,  whe- 
ther Ave  are  in  his  favor  or  exposed  to  his  wrath — it  must  be 
the  principle  by  which  we  are  actuated  in  this  life,  and  which 
shall  determine  our  state  in  that  which  is  to  come.  But  what 
says  experience?  what  say  the  consciences  of  the  greater  part 
now  present,  both  of  young  and  old?  Alas!  the  answer  is 
ready;  we  have  not  thought  of  these  things;  we  have  not  re- 
alized them.  "To-day,  then,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  har- 
den not  your  hearts,"  but  meet  your  eternal  interests  with  a 
fair  consideration  of  their  value,  and  "if  the  Lord  be  God, 
follow  him,  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him." 

Surely,  my  friends,  it  is  a  most  fair  alternative,  and  just 
such  an  appeal  to  our  reason  and  understanding  as  contend- 
ers for  the  supremacy  of  human  reason  require;  and  such, 
moreover,  as  might  teach  the  enemies  of  Christianity,  who 
ignorantly  charge  it  with  requiring  of  them  what  is  contrary 
to  reason,  to  consider  rather,  how  very  reasonable  a  service 
it  is,  how  exactly  accommodated  to  our  condition,  calculated 
to  exalt  our  reason,  enlarge  our  perceptions,  elevate  our 
hopes,  refine  oar  natures,  purify  our  hearts,  and  fit  us,  sin- 
ners that  we  are,  for  Heavenly  glory. 

In  discoursing  on  this  passage  of  Scripture,  I  shall, 

First,  point  out  what  is  to  be  understood  by  the  word 
Baal,  in  connexion  with  its  application  to  the  present  cir- 
cumstances of  Christians; 

Secondly,  I  shall  inquire  into  the  general  causes  of  that 
hesitation  and  reluctance  to  embrace  religion  which  is  so 
manifest  among  us;  and,  then. 

Conclude  with  an  application  of  the  subject. 

"And  Elijah  came  to  all  the  people,  and  said.  How  long 
halt  ye  between  two  opinions?  if  the  Lord  be  God,  follow 
him;  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  point  out  what  is  to  be  understood  by  the 
word  Baal,  in  connexion  with  its  application  to  the  present 
circumstances  of  Christians. 

The  proneness  of  the  Jewish  nation  to  actual  idolatry,  was 
a  very  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of  that  people.  Re- 
peated instances  are  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament,  of  tlieii* 
oflending  in  this  way,  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  severe 


THE   KEASONABLENESS    OF   RELIGION.  445 

chastisement  of  the  Babylonish  cajjtivity  that  they  were  cured 
of  it.  The  particular  case  referred  to  in  tlie  text  was,  the 
idolatrous  worship  set  up  by  Jeroboam,  on  the  revolt  of  the 
ten  tribes  from  Ilehoboam,  the  son  of  Solomon;  and  the  Baal 
here  mentioned  is  generally  understood  as  the  same  with 
Belus,  or  the  Sun.  This  was  the  most  ancient  form  of  idol- 
atry in  the  world.  That  the  idol  was  a  material  one,  the 
context  informs  us;  and  that  it  had  its  too  crowded  temples, 
priests,  and  sacrifices,  similar  to  those  appointed  for  the  wor- 
ship of  the  true  God,  established  in  Jerusalem. 

Now,  my  hearers,  I  doubt  not  but  that  it  seems  a  strange 
thing,  that  rational  beings,  especially  those  who  were  lavored 
with  an  express  revelation  of  and  from  God,  could  so  far  be 
deluded  as  to  render  homage  and  worship  to  a  senseless 
block  of  matter,  and  put  their  trust  in  a  graven  image  made 
by  themselves,  for  help  and  deliverance,  either  in  life  or 
death.  Yet  it  differs  in  nothing  from  the  virtual  idolatry  of 
wealth-worship,  world-honuige,  and  pleasure-service,  so  pre- 
valent in  the  Christian  world.  The  essence  of  the  sin  lies 
not  in  the  thing  worshipped,  but  in  the  departure  of  the  heart 
from  God.  And  we  become  just  as  criminally  idolaters  by 
setting  up  an  idol  in  our  hearts,  as  by  falling  down  before  it 
in  our  houses.  The  man  who  puts  his  trust  in  uncertain 
riches  makes  gold  his  god.  The  slave  of  sensual  pleasure 
sacrifices  to  the  flesh.  The  man  who  pursues  the  honors 
and  state  of  the  world  bows  down  at  the  shi'ine  of  ambition; 
and  the  giddy,  thoughtless  votary  of  folly  and  fashion,  wor- 
ships the  glittering  and  ever-changing  idol  of  the  world  and 
dissipation.  And  however  various  tlie  idols,  yet  one  common 
character  is  stamped  upon  the  worshij)])ers — ''God  is  not  in 
all  their  thoughts;"  their  hearts  are  gone  away  from  him. 

In  the  present  circumstances  of  Christians,  then,  the  right 
application  of  the  word  Baal  is  to  whatever  profit,  pleasure, 
or  pursuit  interferes  with  and  supersedes  the  gospel,  and 
draws  them  off  from  the  dut}^  they  owe  to  God,  and  the  care 
of  their  immortal  souls;  and  the  appeal  made  in  my  text  is 
to  the  unreasonablness  of  such  a  course  of  conduct:  yet  how 
dead  is  the  world  to  so  fair  a  proposition;  how  readily  can 
those  who  feel  that  it  applies  unanswerably  to  their  particu- 
lar condition  put  it  away  from  them.    Tea,  how  many  of 


446  THE   KEASONABLENESS    OF   EELIGION. 

those  now  present,  both  young  and  old,  will  nevertheless  hiig 
their  idol  closer  to  their  hearts,  and  stifle  the  reason  of  their 
own  minds  and  the  afi'eetionate  warning  of  God's  holy  truth, 
in  a  more  devoted  worship  of  tlieir  particular  Baal.  Thus  is 
that  light  which  is  given  to  guide  them  to  their  duty  and 
their  happiness,  exchanged  for  darkness;  and  thus  is  the  god 
of  this  world  permitted  "to  blind  the  minds  of  them  that  be- 
lieve not,  lest  the  light  of  tlie  glorious  gospel  of  Christ  should 
shine  unto  them:"  yea  thus,  and  for  this  cause,  does  God 
"send  them  strong  delusion  that  they  should  believe  a  lie — 
that  they  all  might  be  damned  who  believed  not  the  truth, 
but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness." 

Oh!  how  similar  in  every  age  is  the  spirit  of  infidelity  in 
its  effects,  whether  it  be  manifested  in  the  gross  idolatry  of 
graven  images,  or  in  the  more  refined  influence  of  philosophi- 
cal unbelief  and  disregard  of  revelation.  How  is  the  heart 
dead  to  God,  even  under  the  clear  disclosure  of  that  love  and 
mercy  in  which  he  is  manifested  by  the  gospel,  to  the  faith 
and  fear  of  his  redeemed  creatures. 

What  numbers  are  wilfully  ignorant  of  what  he  hath  spoken 
unto  us  by  his  son.  What  still  greater  numbers  hold  them- 
selves back  from  every  improvement  of  the  knowledge  they 
do  possess,  and  never  take  one  step  towards  the  mercy  seat; 
never  withhold  themselves  from  the  desire  they  can  gratify; 
never  think  of  Heaven,  of  Hell,  of  Death,  of  Judgment;  never 
bend  the  knee  in  prayer,  or  ask,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved? 
What  multitudes  strive  to  reconcile  the  service  of  God  with 
that  of  the  Baal  whom  they  worship,  and  are  straightway 
offended,  when  a  faithful  Elijah  strips  the  mask  from  their 
idol,  uncovers  the  iniquity  of  their  hearts,  and  shows  them 
its  enmity  to  God.  Above  all,  when  he  appeals  to  their  rea- 
son, as  in  the  words  of  my  text,  to  prove  that  tlieir  Baal  has 
no  power  to  help  or  save  them,  but  is  cheating  them  out  of 
their  souls — that  their  boasted  honesty  and  morality  are  but 
selfish  sins,  and  not  atoning  saviours — how  does  the  pride  of 
unhumbled  hearts  swell  and  rise  against  the  truth,  and  a 
preached  gospel  become  "the  savor  of  death,"  of  double 
death,  to  those  who  will  listen  neither  to  reason  or  revelation 
in  behalf  of  their  souls. 

O  if  there  be  any  such  present  this  day,  any  who,  by  ne- 


THE   REASONABLENESS   OF   KELIGION.  *  447 

gleet  of  the  word  and  worship  of  God,  are  joined  nnto  their 
idol,  let  the  messasre  wherewith  I  am  charged  come  to  their 
ears  and  to  their  hearts,  in  the  power  and  spirit  of  the  Goi> 
of  Elijah,  and  awaken  them  to  consider  whom  they  serve, 
and  what  wages  they  are  to  receive.  O  let  them  for  once 
hear  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness:  and  if  the  Loed,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  be  God,  follow  him;  but  if  the  world,  the 
flesh,  or  the  devil,  be  God,  and  a  God  miglity  to  save,  then 
follow  them.  Be  no  longer  crippled  by  divided  opinion,  be 
no  longer  deluded  with  the  vain  expectation  that  this  world 
and  the  things  that  are  in  it,  and  the  world  to  come  and  the 
things  that  are  in  it,  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  are  to  be 
gained  by  the  same  means.  No,  there  is  a  gulf  between  them 
which  we  must  pass  in  the  present  life.  Over  this  gulf  there 
is  but  one  strait  and  narrow  way,  marked  with  the  blood 
of  Christ,  and  lighted  up  with  faith  and  holiness.  It  is 
strewed,  indeed,  with  self-denial,  and  sometimes  with  suffer- 
ing, but  it  leads  to  eternal  life  and  heavenly  glory.  O  that 
you  may  this  day  hear  your  heavenly  leader's  voice  calling 
unto  you,  "strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  for  wide  i& 
the  gate  and  broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  destruction." 

II.  Secondly,  I  am  to  inquire  into  the  general  causes  of 
that  hesitation  and  reluctance  to  embrace  religion  which  is 
so  manifest  amongst  us. 

To  attempt  a  statement  of  them  all,  my  friends,  would  ex- 
ceed your  patience  and  my  strength.  Every  one,  however, 
by  a  little  attention  to  the  frame  of  his  or  her  own  spirit — to 
the  motives  and  expectations  of  his  or  her  conduct,  may  sup- 
ply what  may  either  necessarily  or  inadvertently  escape  my 
notice. 

The  first  I  will  mention  is,  ignorance  of  what  religion  re- 
ally is.  This,  as  it  is  a  very  effectual  cause  of  hesitation,  so 
is  it  a  most  inexcusable  one,  and  what  men  are  seldom  guilty 
of  in  any  matter  of  worldly  interest.  That  it  exists  and  ope- 
rates to  the  injury  of  thousands,  is  capable  of  such  instant 
proof  as  no  honest  and  sincere  man  can  deny. — As  thus: 

Let  me  ask  those  present  who  have  no  concern  with  re- 
ligion, (I  fear  I  might  ask  some  who  call  themselves  Chris- 
tians,) whether  God's  message  to  the  world  by  his  prophets,. 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  his  apostles,  has  received  as  careful 


448  «         THE   KEASONABLENESS   OF   RELIGION. 

a  Consideration  of  its  evidences,  and  as  deep  a  study  of  its 
ducti-iiies,  its  discoveries,  its  rewards,  and  penalties,  as  the 
most  common  calling  and  pi-ofession  by  which  men  earn  their 
daily  bread?  Have  its  advantages  been  inquired  into  as 
diligently,  and  what  are  considered  its  disadvantages  by 
worldly  men,  been  weighed  and  estimated  with  as  much  care 
as  would  be  given  to  the  poor  concern  of  the  purchase  of  an 
estate?  Has  thg  loss  or  the  gain,  exliibited  in  its  eternal 
sanctions,  been  revolved  in  the  mind  with  the  same  caution 
that  is  bestowed  on  a  speculation  of  worldly  interest? 

Let  those  concerned  answer  these  questions  according  to 
truth,  and  then  consider  how  enmity  to  God,  the  only  pos- 
session of  the  carnal  or  worldly  mind,  is  thus  detected  in  its 
very  elements,  and  manifested  in  this  neglect  of  his  word  and 
worship;  and  let  them  further  reflect,  how  justly  they  may  be 
charged  with  the  idolatry  of  the  heart,  who  give  their  affec- 
tions to,  and  place  their  dependence  upon,  some  temporal 
good.  Alas!  when  ledgers,  and  law  books,  and  novels,  and 
the  tools  of  our  trade,  hunt  the  Bible  out  of  doors,  and  not 
even  the  Lord's  day  is  spared  from  the  business  and  the 
pleasure  of  the  world,  what  is  it  better  than  open  renunci- 
ation of  God,  and,  under  the  light  of  the  gospel,  how  is  it 
less  criminal  than  the  actual  idolatry  of  Heathen  lands? 

What!  shall  God  speak?  shall  the  Most  High  God,  the  ma- 
ker of  heaven  and  earth,  reveal  to  us  his  will,  and  disclose 
all  the  wonders  of  liis  love  for  our  good,  and  the  sinful  crea- 
ture for  whom  all  this  is  done,  turn  his  back  upon  it,  and  put 
it  away  from  him  as  a  thing  of  less  consequence  than  busi- 
ness, or  profit,  or  pleasure,  and  yet  think  to  stand  excused? 
Would  we  excuse  any  dependant  who  should  thus  treat  us? 
would  we  permit  him  to  plead  ignorance,  when  it  was  his 
first  duty,  and  his  highest  interest,  to  inform  himself,  and  to 
act  accordingly?  No,  indeed.  How  then  "shall  those  escape 
who  neglect  so  great  salvation?"  And  why  shall  not  the 
same  measure  be  meted  out  to  them  wherewith  they  have 
measured  to  others?  And  what  but  hesitation  and  reluc- 
tance, yea,  and  actual  hostility  to  religion,  can  be  expected 
from  those  who  are  carelessly  ignorant  of  God,  of  his  gra- 
cious purj^oses  of  mercy  towards  them,  and  of  his  M'onderful 
means  to  sanctify  and  save  sinners! 


THE   REASONABLENESS   OF   RELIGION.  4:49 

A  second  cause  of  hesitation  and  reluctance  to  embrace 
religion  is,  love  of  the  world. 

By  love  of  the  world  I  mean,  such  delight  in  and  engage- 
ment with  the  poor  portion  it  has  to  bestow,  as  swallows  up 
the  care  of  the  soul,  and  drowns  men  in  destruction  and 
perdition. 

In  such  persons,  sense  so  far  prevails  against  faith  as  to 
hide  from  them  the  baits  with  which  Satan  is  contiijually 
drawing  them  further  and  further  into  his  snare.   Arguments 
in  favor  of  the  reasonableness  and  necessity  of  religion  fall 
upon  a  pre-occupied  ear  and  a  blinded  mind.     Religion  is 
not  seriously  considered  in  its  origin,  its  use,  its  end.     Even 
the  occasional  convictions  of  conscience  are  escaped  from,  if 
not  stifled;  and  excuses,  which  even  at  the  moment  are  felt 
to  be  unsafe,  resorted  to.     Oh!  how  readily  can  the  spirit  of 
the  world  make  "the  worse  appear  the  better  reason."     To 
what  poor  perversions  and  miserable  sophistry  will  men^ 
fallen  men,  resort,  to  obscure  and  resist  the  truth,  and  give 
the  god  of  this  world  his  advantage  against  the  gospel  of 
Christ.     My  brethren  and  hearers,  shall  we  be  warned  that 
"the  friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God,  that  if  any 
man  love  the  world  and  the  things  that  are  in  it,  the  lust  of 
the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  the  love 
of  the  Father  is  not  in  him;"  shall  reason,  and  revelation, 
and  experience,  all  combine  to  prove  to  us,  that  all  its  enjoy- 
ments are  vain,  transitory,  and  unsatisfying,  that  they  can- 
not fill  the  aching  void  in  the  heart  of  an  immortal  spirit, 
while  separated  from  God,  the  only  and  the  enduring  good; 
that  the  whole  purchase  of  its  power,  and  praise,  and  honor, 
and  splendor,  cannot  reach  the  value  of  one  soul,  or  give  to 
God  a  ransom  for  its  forfeit?     Shall  all  this  be  told  us,  and 
by  the  Son  of  God  himself,  and  any  yet  hesitate,  between 
God  and  this  Baal?     Is  there  no  help  in  either  faith,  fear,  or 
love,  against  tliis  modern  Moloch,  to  which  so  many  sacrifice 
themselves,  and  their  sons,  and  their  daughters?     Yes,  there 
is  help,  thanks  be  to  God,  but  it  is  no  where  to  be  found  but 
in  the  cross  of  Christ;  on  that  he  overcame  the  world,  and 
the  God  of  its  idolatry;  and  under  this  banner  only  can  we 
obtain  the  victory,  and  gain  the  crown  of  eternal  life.     He 
lived,  he  died,  he  conquered  for  us,  my  brethren — he  despised 
[Vol.  1,— *29.] 


450  THE   REASONABLENESS    OF   EELIGION. 

its  gloiy,  he  overcame  its  temptation,  be  endured  its  scoff, 
he  meekly  submitted  to  its  rage;  "for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  him,"  he  submitted  to  it  all,  and  from  the  throne  of 
his  gloiy  he  calls  to  all  his  faithful  followers,  "in  the  world 
ye  shall  have  tribulation,  but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  over- 
come the  world."  O  let  it  strengthen  us,  my  brethren,  to 
overcome  every  sinful  conformity  to  its  vain  and  vicious 
pursuits.  We  are  called  to  an  incorruptible  inheritance,  we 
are  offered  a  crown  of  glory, — "where  I  am  there  shall  my 
servants  be  also."  For  the  joy  set  before  us,  then,  "let  us 
press  towards  the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  our  high  calling," 
and  show  that  "this  is  the  victory  which  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith."  But  what  shall  those  do  who  have 
not  faith?  I  answer,  why  have  you  not  faith?  Shines  not 
the  light  which  is  the  life  of  men  to  you  even  as  to  others? 
Have  you  made  one  effort  to  obtain  it?  Have  you  reflected 
oipon  the  revelation  of  God's  will?  Have  you  opened  your 
ears  and  your  heart  to"  his  message  of  mercy?  Have  you 
broken  off  your  sins  by  repentance?  Have  you  sought  a 
throne  of  grace  through  a  Redeemer's  merits,  or  are  you  yet 
"bowing  down  before  this  great  Moloch  of  eternal  death?  How 
is  it  with  you  in  this  respect?  O  let  God's  Holy  "Word  be 
your  warrant  to  come  to  him — your  want,  your  slavery,  your 
sin,  be  your  passports  to  his  presence:  "be  not  faithless,  but 
believing;"  and,  like  wrestling  Jacob,  hold  fast  the  word  of 
promise  till  he  bless  you.  Cast  off  the  badges  of  your  slavery, 
take  up  a  new  course,  "looking  to  Jesus,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith,  till  the  day  star  arise  in  your  heart," 
and  you  realize,  with  every  faithful  disciple  of  the  Loed 
Jesus,  "I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strength- 
eneth  me." 

The  third  and  last  cause  which  I  shall  mention,  of  hesita- 
tion and  reluctance  to  embrace  the  Christian  religion  is,  the 
fear  of  shame. 

That  numbers  are  deterred  from  embracing  religion  by  a 
false  shame,  that  it  will  expose  them  to  notice  and  remark, 
to  ridicule  and  sneering  observation,  that  it  will  separate, 
them  from  their  usual  companions,  and  render  them  irksome 
to  their  associates,  with  many  other  such  false  reasonings,  is 
mlhappily  too  common  to  require  proof;  and  as  it  is  generally 


THE   REASOXABLElfESS   OF   RELIGION.  451 

the  young  and  the  timid,  who  are  thus  involved  in  difficulty, 
there  is  the  greater  need  to  point  out  the  fallacy  of  this  ex- 
cuse, and  to  guard  and  strengthen  them  against  the  influence 
of  tliis  false  principle. 

To  such,  therefore,  I  would  say,  in  the  first  place,  "be  not 
ashamed  when  it  concerneth  thy  soul,  for  there  is  a  shame 
wliich  bringeth  sin,  and  there  is  a  shame  which  is  glory  and 
grace.""^  Jesus  Christ  was  not  ashamed  to  bear  contempt 
and  reproach  for  you;  be  not  ashamed  to  endure  it  for  him. 
This  is  a  sacrifice  which  he  requires  of  all  who  would  be  his 
disciples;  and  he  warns  us,  that  if  we  are  ashamed  to  confess 
him  before  men,  he  will  be  ashamed  of,  and  disown  us,  be- 
fore his  Fatlier. 

!N^ext,  as  this  fear  can  only  respect  two  tilings,  the  persons 
from  whom  mockery  and  derision  will  come,  and  the  thing 
scoffed  at,  consider,  my  young  friends,  whether  there  is  any 
just  ground  on  which  either  to  be  ashamed  or  afraid. 

For,  first,  what  kind  of  persons  are  they  from  whom  mock- 
ery and  derision  of  that  "fear  of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  be- 
ginning of  wisdom,"  will  come.  Is  their  weight  and  influ- 
ence in  society  such,  that  their  contempt,  even  were  it  real, 
which  it  is  not,  would  deprive  you  of  any  rational  enjoyment, 
defeat  any  real  advantage,  or  bring  upon  you  any  actual  loss? 
Can  your  peace  of  mind  or  worldly  comfort  be  in  any  shape 
dependant  on  the  dissolute  and  ungodly?  for  none  other 
would  treat  your  good  resolutions  and  endeavors  with  light- 
ness and  ridicule.  On  the  other  hand,  will  not  every  good 
and  pious  person  be  on  your  side,  and  rejoice  to  support  and 
countenance  you?  will  not  God  be  with  you,  and  an  approv- 
ing conscience  be  a  shield  and  defence  against  every  weapon 
that  fools,  who  make  a  mock  at  sin,  can  wield  against  you? 

Next,  what  is  there  in  the  thing  itself,  in  religion,  to  be 
ashamed  of?  Is  it  a  disgraceful  thing,  to  show  openly,  that 
you  reverence  and  love  your  Almighty  Maker  and  bountiful 
Benefactor?  to  profess  your  desire  and  intention  to  serve 
and  please  Him?  Can  it  be  a  subject  of  reproach  to  own  and 
confess  that  merciful  Saviour  who  bought  you  with  his  blood 
and  redeemed  you  from  eternal  death?     Is  it  shameful  to  love 

*Eccles.  iv.  21. 


452  TUE   KEASONABLENESS   OF   RELIGION. 

goodness,  to  desire  happiness,  to  Lope  for  glory?  Is  it  adis- 
Jionorable  thing  to  bend  the  knee  in  prayer,  to  lift  up  the 
voice  in  praise,  to  learn  the  will  of  onr  heavenly  Father,  and 
to  stiive  to  do  it?  Is  it  a  ridiculous  thing  to  worship  God, 
and  unite  with  saints  and  angels,  and  with  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  in  adoring  the  Giver  of  eveiy  good  and 
perfect  gift  to  us  every  way  undeserving  creatures?  Or  is 
the  shame  altogether  on  the  other  side,  and  justly  to  be  im- 
puted to  those  who  know  not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospel 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  who,  dog-like,  snap  at  the  hand 
that  feeds  them,  blaspheme  the  mercy  that  spares  them,  and 
trample  on  the  blood  that  bought  them  and  would  save  them? 
Is  sin  a  shameful  thing?  Is  ingratitude  a  base  thing?  Is 
glorying  in  our  shame  a  detestable  thing?  Then  have  these 
mockers  at  religion  wherewithal  to  be  deeply  ashamed.  Fear 
them  not,  therefore,  my  dear  young  friends,  but  rather  fear 
Him,  who  invites  and  commands  you  to  remember  your  Cre- 
ator in  the  days  of  your  youth.  ''Fear  not  them  which  kill 
the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul,  but  rather  fear 
Him  which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell!" 
who,  in  a  coming  day,  will  mock  at  these  scoffers,  and  "laugh 
when  their  fear  cometh."  Fear  not  to  confess  before  the 
world  your  merciful  Saviour,  but  rather  fear  lest  he  be 
ashamed  of  and  deny  you,  in  that  great  and  dreadful  day, 
when  all  the  proud  and  all  who  have  done  wickedly  shall 
be  stubble,  "when  the  fearful  and  unbelieving,  and  the 
abominable,  and  murderers,  and  whoremongers,  and  sorce- 
rers, and  idolaters,  and  all  liars,  shall  have  their  part  in  the 
lake  which  burnetii  with  fire  and  brimstone." 

Oh!  how  beautiful  is  early  piety — how  sweet  it  is  to  see 
that  good  foundation  laid  in  youth,  which  shall  keep  them 
innocent  of  the  great  transgression,  and  enable  them  to  es- 
cape the  pollutions  that  are  in  the  world  through  lust,  which 
doubles  every  enjoyment  God  gives,  which  brightens  the  day 
of  prosperity,  cheers  the  hour  of  adversity,  makes  life  joyful, 
and  death  happy,  in  the  sure  and  certain  hope  of  a  resur- 
rection to  glory. 

These,  my  young  friends,  are  some  of  the  many  blessings 
which  religion  confers  on  those  who  seek  her  pleasant  and 
peaceful  ways.     Be  no  longer,  then,  afraid  of  the  scoff"  of 


THE   REASONABLENESS    OF   liELIGION.  453 

fools;  be  no  longer  asliamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ;  halt  no 
longer  between  two  opinions,  but  cast  in  jour  lot  with  the 
children  of  God  here — they  will  "do  you  good  and  not  evil 
nil  the  days  of  your  life;"  they  will  counsel  you  with  their 
experience,  and  help  you  with  their  prayers;  they  will  share 
in  your  reproach,  and  rejoice  in  your  victory.  Above  all, 
the  blessed  angels  will  glory  over  a  returning  brother  or  sis- 
ter; your  Ainiiglity  Saviour  "will  see  of  the  travail  of  his 
soul  and  be  satistied;"  and  God's  reconciled  countenance 
lifted  up  upon  you,  shall  guide  and  sustain  you  on  your  way, 
and  bi'ing  you  triumphant  over  death,  hell,  and  the  grave,  to 
the  everlasting  joy  of  his  presence,  where  trial  will  be  ended, 
and  all  tears  wiped  from  your  e\'es  for  ever.  But  thither 
tile  scofiers  at  God  and  religion,  the  mockers  and  despisers 
of  his  people,  shall  never  come;  their  place  is  elsewhere;  they 
shall,  however,  see  the  triumph  of  the  Christian,  and,  groan- 
ing in  auguisli  of  spirit,  shall  cry  out,  this  is  he  or  she  whom 
we  had  sometime  in  derision,  and  a  proverb  of  reproach — 
"We  fuols  counted  his  life  madness,  and  his  end  to  be  with- 
out honour;  but  now,  how  is  he  niimbered  with  the  children 
of  God,  and  his  lot  is  among  the  saints."* 

In  all  our  concerns,  we  know  by  experience,  iny  friends, 
tl'.at  if  the  heart  is  not  with  the  work  it  never  prospers.  This 
God  knows  better  than  we;  and,  therefore,  requires  an  un- 
qualified preference  of  his  service  over  all  other  pursuits,  as 
the  condition  on  which  his  blessing  will  make  it  both  plea- 
sant and  profitable  to  us. — "My  son,  give  me  thy  heart." 
lluw,  then,  is  it  with  us  in  this  respect?  Hath  God  no  com- 
"]>etitor  in  our  affections?  Do  none  of  the  many  Baals  of  the 
world  and  tiie  flesh  cotitest  his  righteous  supremacy  over  us 
as  oni-  (JoD  and  Saviour?  O  enter  deep  into  your  hearts,  my 
Cliristiau  bretlnvn,  and  let  this  searching  question  hunt  out 
every  lurking  deceit.  Bring  your  religion  to  this  test,  and 
try  it  by  its  fruits. 

Are  the  iVuits  of  the  Spirit,  in  all  goodness,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  truth,  al»undant  in  your  life?  is  the  world  crucified 
to  you,  and  you  to  the  world,  and  your  ho|»e  full  of  immor- 
tality? then  may  yon  have  confidence  towards  God.     If  not, 

*  Wisdom  T.  5,  6. 


454  THE   REASONABLENESS   OF  KELIGION. 

then  may  you  be  equally  sure,  that  in  something  your  heart 
is  divided,  "fur  the  IVuit  of  righteousness  is  peace,  and  the 
eifect  of  righteousness  quietness  and  assurance  for  ever." 

Or  is  your  religion  tainted  with  the  spirit  of  the  world, 
with  the  vain  attenijjt  to  serve  two  masters?  Try  this  also 
by  the  same  rule.  Is  your  duty  to  God  made  to  bend  to 
your  worldly  interests  and  fleshly  pleasures,  on  some  deceit- 
ful plea  of  necessary  care  for  your  family,  or  regard  fur  your 
health,  or  indifference  in  the  thing,  whatever  it  may  be,  or 
are  all  these  made  to  bow  and  bend  to  the  word  of  God's  holy 
requirements,  and  chained  down  to  simplicity  and  godly  sin- 
cerity by  the  solemn  thought — -"Thou,  God,  seest  me,  and 
spiest  out  my  thoughts  afar  offf  O  be  faithful  to  jovw  soiils, 
and  let  not  the  enemy  deceive  you  with  a  foi'm  of  godliness, 
without  the  power — with  crying  Lokd,  without  doing  the 
things  which  he  commands.  Eemember,  dear  brethren,  that 
as  the  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye,  so  does  the  motive  deter- 
mine the  quality  of  an  action  in  the  sight  of  God.  Let  your 
eye,  then,  l)e  single,  your  motive  and  intention  right,  in  tlie 
service  of  God,  as  well  knowing  that  ye  cannot  sei've  two 
mastei's,  and  that  "his  servants  ye  ai'e  to  wiiom  ye  obey, 
whether  of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedience  unto  righteous- 
ness." 

To  you,  my  poor  friends,  who  place  yourselves  above  the 
claims  of  revealed  religion,  and  the  instituted  means  of  grace, 
— who  know  not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ, — let  what  has  been  said  be  so  applied,  as  to 
awaken  you  to  a  serious  consideration  of  the  question  put  iii 
my  text.  It  cannot  be  said,  indeed,  that  you  are  halting  be- 
tween two  opinions;  but  evident  it  is,  that  you  have  never 
given  the  subject  the  serious  consideration  it  deserves.  Take, 
then,  this  most  fair  pioposal  of  God's  merciful  warning  home 
to  your  earnest  meditations.  Begin  from  tliis  moment  to 
act  tlie  part  of  rational  beings,  by  ascertaining  what  master 
you  serve,  and  what  wages  you  are  to  expect.  Ering  your 
reason  to  act  upon  it — bring  the  liopes  and  fears  of  an  ac- 
countable being  to  act  upon  it — bring  heaven  and  hell  to 
bear  upon  the  choice  you  shall  make;  and  no  longer  cheat 
your  immortal  soul  out  of  its  birthright,  by  turning  away 
from  that  light  which  is  the  life  of  men. 


THE   EEASONABLEXESS   OF   EELIGIOX.  455 

Choose  je  tLeu,  this  claj,  whom  ye  will  serve.  Let  nei- 
ther a  careless  neglect,  a  doubting  mind,  or  a  divided  heart, 
cramp  jour  endeavors,  whether  for  time  or  eternity — whe- 
ther for  God  or  for  the  world.  Both  you  cannot  have,  as 
most  likely  you  wish  to  have  them;  one  only  can  be  your 
portion.  "If  then,  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  him;  if  Baal  or 
the  world  be  God,  then  follow  him."  And  may  that  infi- 
nitely merciful  God,  who  is  not  willing  that  any  should  per- 
ish, direct  and  assist  you  to  choose  "that  good  j^art  which 
shall  not  be  taken  from  you." 


SERMON   XVII. 

THE  NECESSITY   OF   EXERCISING   A   RIGHT   JUDGMENT   IN   OUR 
EELIGIODS   CONCERNS. 


St.  Luke  xii.  57. 
"Yea,  and  why,  even  of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is  right?" 

This  question  of  our  blessed  Lord,  addressed  to  his  hearers 
at  large,  is  a  just-reproof  of  that  perversion  of  their  moral 
faculties,  which  men  in  general  exhibit  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion; and  the  connexion,  in  which  the  application  is  made, 
to  the  use  of  those  faculties  on  other  subjects,  marks,  very 
plainly,  the  guilt  and  danger  incurred,  by  refusing  to  the 
gospel  that  serious  consideration  which  the  interests  involved 
in  its  discoveries  so  reasonably  call  for. 

By  the  exercise  of  observation  and  experience,  men  learn 
to  provide  against  those  uncertain  changes  in  the  seasons, 
which  otherwise  would  either  be  useless  or  injurious  to  their 
worldly  business — "thev  can  discern  the  face  of  the  sky  and 
the  earth;""  but  they  are  negligent  and  averse  to  applying  the 
same  faculties  of  discernment  to  their  spiritual  concerns, 
under  the  inevitable  condition  of  changing  one  state  of  being 
for  another.  In  like  manner,  the  controversies  which  arise 
from  coniElicting  temporal  interests,  and  the  penalties  incur- 
red by  the  violation  of  human  laws,  are  provided  against  and 
avoided  by  corresponding  precautions;  while,  in  the  grand 
controversy  with  God,  the  law,  the  judge,  the  prison,  and  the 
penalty,  are  disregarded  and  kept  out  of  sight  by  those  very 
beings,  who  are  so  acute  and  active  on  the  comparatively 
trifling  concerns  of  a  perishing  mortality. 

At  this  unreasonable  disregard  of  their  highest  interests, 
manifested  by  those  to  whom  he  addressed  himself,  our  Lord 
expresses  his  surprise  and  concern,  in  the  language  of  my 
text.  They  had  every  kind  of  proof  that  could  be  desired, 
that  he  was  a  teacher  sent  from  God.  They  had  all  the  means 
which  the  public  preaching  of  his  doctrine  could  give,  for 


458  THE   NECESSITY   OF  EXERCISING 

judging  of  its  reasonableness  and  fitness  to  answer  all  the 
ends  of  true  religion;  and  they  had  the  evidence  of  his  life  to 
manifest  its  efJects,  and  to  show,  by  example,  the  influence 
it  would  have  upon  human  happiness;  yet  they  refused  it,  and 
thereby  incurred  a  temporal  ruin,  which  was  a  striking  em- 
blem of  that  everlasting  destruction  denounced  against  the 
rejectors  of  Chkist  and  his  gospel. 

The  question  in  my  text,  then,  is  an  appeal  to  the  reason 
and  to  the  conscience  of  every  man,  on  the  folly  and  guilt  of 
refusing  or  neglecting  to  apply  the  same  principles  of  dis- 
cernment and  precaution  to  his  religious  concerns,  which  are 
exercised  in  the  choice  and  direction  of  his  worldly  business. 
And,  in  this  view,  I  shall  endeavor  to  illustrate  and  enforce  it 
in  the  following  discourse: 

"Yea,  and  why,  even  of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is 
right?" 

And  FIRST,  As  to  the  revelation  itself,  Have  we  such  a 
thing?  Has  God  made  a  discovery  of  himself  to  us  beyond 
what  we  may  learn  of  him  from  his  works? 

This  is  the  primary  question,  which  every  accountable  be- 
ing has  to  settle  with  himself.  And  as  it  is  a  question  of 
fact,  to  be  determined  by  its  proper  evidence,  it  is  strictly 
within  the  province  of  that  investigation  and  reasonable  de- 
termination which  my  text  authorizes  and  exhorts  to. 

It  is  very  true,  my  hearers,  that  we  grow  up  under  the  be- 
lief that  we  have  such  a  communication  from  God,  and,  in- 
sensibly, almost,  we  acquire  the  knowledge  of  the  leading 
facts  and  doctrines  of  the  religion  it  teaches;  but  it  is  equally 
true,  that,  in  general,  we  grow  up  without  that  impression  of 
its  divine  obligation  and  importance,  which  is  indispensable 
to  any  personal  benefit — any  saving  effect — being  derived 
therefrom. 

Such  being  the  case,  the  question  for  every  one's  reason 
and  conscience  to  entertain  is,  is  this  right?  is  it  such  a  pro- 
ceeding as  the  reason  of  my  own  mind  approves?  is  it  at  all 
analogous  to  the  course  I  would  pursue  on  a  temporal  interest 
of  the  same  importance?  And  as  the  answer  shall  in  truth 
be,  will  the  question  in  my  text  apply — "Yea,  and  why,  even 
of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is  right?" 

Now  there  are  not  a  few  before  me,  who,  I  am  sure,  would 


A   EIGHT   JUDGMENT   IN   OUR   EELIGIOUS   CONCERNS.        459 

acknowledge,  upon  reflection,  and  witli  seriousness,  tlieir  en- 
tire belief  in  the  scriptures,  as  a  revelation  from  God.  But 
let  us  suppose  that  doubt  is  entertained  by  some,  either  in 
whole  or  in  part;  and  by  doubt  I  mean  honest  doubt,  and  not 
the  affected  doubts  of  those  who  must  deny,  because  they 
knowingly  disobey.  What  is  the  part  that  should  be  taken 
in  such  a  case?  Is  it  to  take  the  doubt  for  a  certainty,  and 
to  act  as  if  it  were  established?  Is  it  to  let  the  doubt  remain 
miinvestigated  and  unsettled?  Have  doubts  and  difficulties, 
of  a  very  formidable  character,  never  been  cleared  up  on 
other  subjects,  where  less  certainty  even  is  attainable?  And 
is  it  thus  you  act  on  a  doubt  or  difficulty  in  the  constitution 
or  law  of  the  land,  or  on  any  point  of  serious  temporal  inter- 
est? If  not,  does  not  the  question  of  my  text  meet  you  with 
its  strong  reproof,  for  thus  leaving  undetermined  the  truth  or 
the  falsehood  of  a  subject,  which  involves  more  than  all  the 
certainties  of  this  world  are  worth? 

There  are  also  not  a  few  before  me,  who  will  confess  that 
this  revelation,  thus  believed,  has  not  received  from  them 
that  attention  and  study  of  its  contents,  which  its  acknow- 
ledged divine  derivation  and  sm-passing  importance  justly 
demand.  But  is  this  neglect  justifiable  on  any  grounds?  Is 
the  consequent  ignorance  of  your  personal  interest,  in  its 
high  discoveries  and  holy  hope,  excusable  upon  any  plea  of 
reasonable  allowance?  Is  it  thus  that  the  books  which  teach 
your  profession,  the  laws  which  guard  your  personal  rights, 
and  the  title  deeds  which  secure  your  estate,  are  neglected? 
Has  the  last  will  and  disposition  of  his  goods,  by  your  earth- 
ly parent,  been  hastily  glanced  at  and  laid  aside  unexamined, 
or  its  contents  taken  ujion  trust  from  the  information  of 
others?  K  not,  where  does  conscience  find  an  escape  from 
the  reasonable  service  of  acting  in  the  concerns  of  your  soul, 
with  the  same  caution  and  diligence  that  you  do  for  your 
estate? 

And  there  is  not  one  of  those  now  before  me,  who  does  not 
entertain  some  sort  of  hope  for  hereafter,  derived  from  this 
very  revelation.  But  the  appeal  which  the  question  in  my 
text  makes  to  your  consciences  is:  Is  this  hope  well  grounded? 
Is  it  entertained  according  to  the  conditions  on  which  it  is 
expressly  limited  in  this  revelation,  or  is  it  assumed  merely, 


460  THE   NECESSITY   OF   EXERCISING 

on  some  partial  or  mistaken  view  of  its  ])urport  and  mean- 
ing? What  principle  would  guide  your  determination  of  tlie 
right  claim  to  an  inheritance  in  this  world?  "Would  it  be 
simply  that  the  claimant  called  himself,  or  was  called,  by  the 
name  of  the  testator,  and  professed  to  be  the  heir?  Would 
you  not  require  some  proof  of  relationship,  some  knowledge 
of  the  family  history  and  alliances,  an  acknowledgment  from 
some  branch  thereof  that  the  claimant  was  of  the  blood  and 
lineage  of  the  testator,  that  he  had  not  been  disinherited,  or 
had  been  restored  by  some  public  act,  to  which  reference 
could  be  had?  If  so — if  principles  like  these  would  govern 
your  decision,  on  a  claim  to  a  worldly  inheritance,  why,  oli! 
"why,  even  of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is  right"  of  the 
hope,  which  puts  this  world  and  its  inheritances  with  the 
small  dust  of  the  balance? 

It  is  a  wide  spread  and  a  wasting  delusion  in  Christian 
lands,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  to  entertain  the  hope  of  the 
gospel  severed  from  the  conditions  of  the  gospel;  and  wliat- 
ever  be  its  root,  wliether  the  natural  corruption  of  the  heart, 
or  the  divisions  which  the  enemy  hath  accomplished  in  the 
Church,  it  is  fatal  to  the  soul.  What  thousands,  under  tlie 
grace  and  truth  which  came  by  Jesus  Christ,  come  to  their 
death-bed,  unknown  to  any  religious  profession,  unconnected 
■with  the  gospel  by  the  sacraments  of  its  hope,  and  strangers 
to  the  transformation  wrought  by  its  grace?  Yet  they  v,n\\ 
talk  of  repentance,  speak  of  their  good  intentions,  express 
sorrow  for  their  sins,  and  hope  that  God  will  be  merciful  to 
them  for  Christ's  sake.  And  this  passes  for  a  Christian  end, 
and  relations  and  friends  console  themselves  therewith,  and 
dream  on  in  the  same  indifterence  to  all  that  is  written  and 
commanded  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  until  their  souls  also  are  re- 
quired; and  a  death-bed  repentance  is  the  only  Christian 
mark,  perhaps,  they  leave  behind  them.  But  will  this  an- 
swer, my  hearers?  May  men  safely  commit  their  souls  to  a 
death-bed  repentance?  And  here  take  notice,  that  the  ques- 
tion is  not,  whether  a  death-bed  repentance  may  not  be  avail- 
able to  salvation,  but  whether  tlie  person  who,  under  the 
light  and  advantages  of  the  gospel,  puts  oif  his  repentance 
from  time  to  time,  until  at  length  death  seizes  upon  him,  can 
reasonably  hope,  that  is,  can  hope  from  what  is  revealed, 


A   EIGHT   JUDGMENT   IN    OUR   EELIGIOUS   CONCERNS.        461 

that  tins  his  repentance  will  be  accepted.     Let  lis  trj  tliis 
question,  then,  upon  the  principle  recognised  in  my  text. 

In  what  condition  does  the  gospel  assume  mankind  to  be? 
Undenialjly,  in  a  state  of  condemnation  and  alienation  from 
God,  by  the  operation  of  sin.  AVliat  is  rhe  declared  purpose 
of  the  gospels  Plainly  and  expressly,  the  recovery  of  man- 
kind to  GrOD,  by  the  defeat  of  sin,  both  in  its  love  and  in  its 
practice,  and  by  regaining  the  purity  and  holiness  of  a  ne'w 
nature.  Wliat  directions  and  means  does  the  gospel  pre- 
scribe for  the  attainment  of  this  end?  Lidispensably,  repent- 
ance towards  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the 
conditions  on  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  promised,  in  order  to 
the  sanctiiication  of  the  sinner.  "What  period  is  allowed, 
within  which  those  conditions  must  be  performed?  i^one, 
not  a  moment  is  allowed  for  men  to  continue  in  sin,  after  they 
are  warned  of  it  and  furnished  with  the  remedy  against  it. 

Now,  iny  dear  friends,  what  fear  of  God  or  regard  for  his 
word  is  manifested  by  the  person  who  knows  this,  as  all  un- 
der the  gospel  must  or  may  know  it,  and  yet  puts  oiF  his  re- 
pentance to  a  more  convenient  season?  What  part  of  the 
purpose  of  the  gospel  is  answered  by  the  man  who  puts  off 
the  very  tirst  requisition  of  the  gospel  to  the  last  act  of  his 
life?  AVhat  change  of  heart  or  of  habit  is  wrought  in  him 
who,  through  the  whole  of  his  accountable  life,  has  walked 
according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  unknown  to  any  Chris- 
tian denomination  as  a  meml^er  of  their  communion — who 
has  never  professed  his  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  an 
open  confession  of  his  name  before  men,  or  acknowledged  the 
efficacy  of  his  death  in  the  salvation  of  sinners,  by  partaking 
of  the  appointed  sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood?  Is  there, 
in  all  or  any  of  this,  a  single  mark  given  us  in  the  Scriptures, 
of  the  person  who  is  entitled  to  the  hope  of  the  gospel?  Is 
there  a  single  lineament  or  feature  of  the  new  man,  the  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  be  discerned  in  such  a  person? 
If  not,  what  is  the  hope  he  entertains  worth,  according  to  the 
plain  principles,  and,  I  will  say,  the  only  principles  accessi- 
ble to  us,  by  which  we  are  directed  to  try  it?  "Why,  then, 
even  of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is  right,"  and  cast 
away  from  you  for  ever  this  cruel  delusion,  which  turns  "the 
grace  of  oar  God  intolasciviousness,"  makes  Christ  "the  minis- 


463  THE   NECESSITY   OP   EXERCISING 

ter  of  sill"  by  a  wilfully  delayed  repentance,  and  the  revealed 
mercy  of  God  in  him  the  snare  and  the  destruction  of  the 
souls  he  died  to  save?  Alas!  my  hearers,  are  there  not  many 
among  you  in  this  dangerous  condition,  many  who  have  no- 
thing more  of  the  Christian  than  hirth  and  baptism,  and  are 
thereby  accountable  in  a  higher  degree?  And  will  you 
smother  this  appeal  to  your  consciences,  and  go  away  and 
forget  to  try  your  hope  by  the  standard  of  divine  truth?  May 
God  forbid!  But  it  is  a  strong  delusion — let  us,  therefore, 
try  the  question  under  another  form. 

Suppose  an  impenitent  sinner,  who  nevertheless  comforts 
himself  with  the  hope  that  God  will  accept  him  on  the  day 
of  judgment,  is  arrested  by  a  sudden  death,  and  passed  into 
eternity  in  this  condition;  what  judgment  does  the  word  of 
God  teach  us  to  form  of  the  worth  of  such  a  hope?  But  let 
us  again  suppose,  that  this  same  person,  instead  of  being 
snatched  to  his  doom,  is  warned  by  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  and,  for  a  number  of  years  afterwards,  continues  still 
impenitent;  at  length,  however,  he  is  seized  with  his  last  sick- 
ness, and,  in  a  few  days  or  weeks,  surrenders  his  soul,  enter- 
taining the  same  kind  of  hope,  and  professing  then  to  be  pen- 
itent; is  his  condition  hereby  altered  in  any  shape  for  the 
better?  Is  the  unfruitful  hope  of  a  sick  bed  more  etRcacious 
than  the  equally  unfruitful  hope  of  health  and  opi^ortunity? 
Is  the  intention  to  repent  at  some  future  time,  in  which  his 
day  of  grace  was  wasted,  fulfilled  and  perfected  by  the  forced 
and  suspicious  repentance  of  a  dying  bed?  My  dear  friends, 
consider,  God  is  not  mocked,  and,  even  of  yourselves,  judge 
what  is  right. 

But  further  yet;  wdiat  is  repentance?  Is  it  the  mere  lip- 
service  of  sorrow  or  regret  expressed  for  wrong  done,  with 
the  naked  intention  to  forsake  sin  and  repair  the  evil  of  its 
commission,  at  some  future  time?  Will  this  satisfy  the  gra- 
cious purpose  of  this  indispensable  qualification  for  the  exer- 
cise of  mercy  on  the  part  of  Almighty  God  towards  sinners? 
Would  it  be  counted  of  any  worth,  as  a  ground  of  forgive- 
ness and  reconciliation,  in  a  matter  of  otfence  among  men? 
If  not,  "why,  even  of  yourselves,  judge  ye  not  what  is  right?" 
for  true  repentance  is  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin,  manifested  by 
an  instant  and  continued  abandonment  of  its  practice,  by 


A   EIGHT  JUDGMENT   IN   OUR   EELIGIOUS    CONCEENS.        463 

every  possible  reparation  for  its  commission,  by  renewed 
obedience  to  the  commands  of  God,  and  by  a  bearty  aj)pli- 
cation  to  the  blood  of  Christ  for  pardon  and  grace.  Any 
thing  short  of  this  is  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world,  which 
worketh  death,  by  supposing  that  God  will  be  satisfied  with 
words  instead  of  things,  with  professions  and  intentions  in- 
stead of  fruits  meet  for  repentance,  and  that  the  great  work 
of  preparing  a  sinful  creature  for  heavenly  glory,  by  the  at- 
tainment and  exhibition  of  a  new  nature  in  the  present  life, 
may  be  accomplished  under  the  feebleness  of  decay  and  the 
distractions  of  dissolution. 

And  what  is  hope,  a  good  hope,  the  hope  of  the  gospel?  Is 
it  the  mental  delusion  of  visionary  desire,  of  unfounded  ex- 
pectations, of  an  end  without  the  means?  'No,  my  hearers, 
this  is  the  "hope  of  the  hypocrite,  which  shall  perish."  The 
hope  of  the  gospel  is  a  branch  of  faith,  a  saving  grace  wrought 
in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  grounded  on  the 
promises  of  God  to  the  penitent,  through  the  merits  and  death 
of  his  only  begotten  Son.  And  as  faith  worketh  by  love  unto 
obedience,  so  doth  hope  work  by  desire  unto  purity.  "Every 
one,"  says  the  apostle,  "that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth 
himself,"  after  the  example  of  Christ.  How,  then,  does  this 
agree  with  the  hope  of  the  delaying  sinner?  O  let  your  con- 
sciences rouse  your  reason  to  act  upon  this  delusion,  and, 
"even  of  yourselves,  judge  what  is  right."  Why  will  you 
build  on  the  sand,  when  the  sure  foundation  which  God  hath 
laid  is  set  before  you?  "Why  will  you  add  to  the  anxieties, 
and  fears,  and  sufferings,  of  your  dying  hours,  by  putting  ofi* 
your  repentance,  and  leaving  your  peace  with  God  unmade 
until  the  feebleness  of  disease  shall  unfit  you  for  so  serious 
and  solemn  a-  duty;  and  why  will  you  waste  your  day  of 
grace  in  "treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wi-ath  and 
revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God?" 

But  this  perversion  of  the  moral  faculties,  which  alone 
render  men  capable  of  religion,  stops  not  at  this;  the  very 
disabilities  which  it  is  the  purpose  of  divine  grace  to  supply, 
are  made  accessaries  to  unbelief.  The  delusion  of  an  un- 
founded hope  may  be  exposed,  and  the  understanding  awaken- 
ed to  detect  its  fallacy — 'the  danger  of  delayed  repentance 
may  be  exhibited,  and  the  conscience  awakened  to  distrust 


464:  THE   NECESSITY   OF   EXERCISING 

its  ^.eciirity.     But  tlie  carnal  mind  lias  yet  its  refuges  of  lies, 
under  whicli  to  bide  its  enmity  against  God. 

My  reason  may  be  convinced,  says  tbe  impenitent  sinner, 
I  may  own  tbe  obligations  of  God's  revealed  will,  but  I  can- 
not repent,  I  cannot  supply  tbe  requisites  to  a  spiritual  re- 
newal— of  myself  I  can  do  notbing.  Indeed!  And  ougbt 
not  tbis,  at  tbe  very  outset,  migbtily  to  confirm  tliy  faitb  in 
tbe  divine  word?  Is  not  tbis  exactly  tbe  description  of  persons 
for  wbom  tlie  blessings  of  redem[)tion  and  grace,  of  instruc- 
tion and  bope,  are  provided  by  tbe  love  of  God  in  Chkist 
Jesus?  Are  not  sucb  tbe  very  lost  and  undone  creatures 
wbom  be  came  to  seek  and  to  save,  wbom  be  bath  restored 
to  tbe  moral  competency  of  accountable  beings,  and  w^bom 
be  invites  to  come  to  bim,  tbat  tbey  may  bavelife?  "Come, 
see  a  man  wliicb  told  me  all  tilings  tbat  ever  I  did!"  was  tbe 
exclamation  of  tbe  woman  of  Samaria,  wdien  tbe  secrets  of 
her  life  were  discovered  to  ber  by  our  Lokd.  And  sball  tbe 
secrets  of  your  beart,  tbat  world  of  sin  and  misery  witliin  you, 
be  laid  bare  in  tbe  divine  word,  and  be  confirmed  by  your 
own  personal  experience  and  observation,  witbout  a  similar 
impression  of  its  trutb,  and  confidence  in  its  efficacy?  "Is 
not  tbis  tbe  Ciikist,"  said  tbe  woman;  and  is  not  tbis  tMe 
book  of  God,  sbould  tbe  sinner  say,  did  be,  "even  of  bimself, 
judge  wbat  is  right." 

But  you  cannot  repent. — Xow  how  do  you  know  tbis? 
Have  you  ever  made  the  attempt?  If  not,  do  you  judge  what 
is  right?  Do  tbe  Scriptures  give  any  countenance  to  a  dis- 
ability of  this  kind?  What  is  tbe  very  first  word  of  God's 
message  of  mercy  to  tbe  world  by  bis  only  begotten  Son?  Is 
it  not,  "repent  and  believe  the  gospel?"  Is  it  right,  then, 
tbat  you  sbould  charge  God  with  a  mockery  of  bis  creatures, 
in  requiring  of  them  a  conditi(jn  which  tbey  cannot  perform? 

Have  you  considered  wbat  tbe  repentance  is  which  is  re- 
quired of  you?  If  not,  do  you  judge  what  is  right  in  assum- 
ing that  you  cannot  perform  it?  God  requires  of  you  to  break 
off  your  sins  by  repentance,  and  your  iniquities  by  righteous- 
ness— to  cease  from  your  viobitions  of  his  holy  law,  as  the 
first  and  indispensable  step  in  a  return  to  his  favor.  And 
do  you  say  that  you  cannot  do  this?  that  you  cannot  refrain 
from  idolatry,  blasphemy.  Sabbath-breaking,  parricide,  mur- 


A   RIGHT   JUDGMENT   IN^   OFlt   RELIGIOUS   CONCERNS.        4:{jO 

der,  adultery,  theft,  perjury,  and  lust?  God  requires  you 
also  to  view  sin  as  evil  in  itself — as  hateful  to  him,  and  ruin- 
ous to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men;  and,  therefore,  as  a  moral 
being  restored  to  religious  capacity,  he  commands  you  to 
consider  the  heinousness  of  its  nature,  its  malignant  opposi- 
tion to  all  his  perfections,  its  utter  inconsistency  with  the 
])eace  and  happiness  of  the  world,  and  as  such  to  learn  to 
hate  it,  to  feel  grieved  for  having  yielded  to  its  commission, 
to  acknowledge  the  guilt  thereby  incurred,  to  implore  for- 
giveness for  the  past,  and  to  resolve  against  it  for  the  future. 
And  do  you  say  that  you  cannot  do  this?  That,  as  redeemed 
to  God  and  called  to  the  knowledge  of  his  grace  by  the  gos- 
pel, you  cannot  apply  the  reason  of  your  own  mind,  the 
experience  of  your  own  life,  and  the  authority  of  God's  holy 
word,  to  judge  what  is  right,  and  to  set  yourself  to  follow  it? 
And  do  you  not  "herein  greatly  err,  not  knowing  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  power  of  God?"  For  the  question  is  not  of  a 
repentance  concluded  and  perfected,  in  those  spiritual  attain- 
ments to  which  it  surely  leads  if  sincerely  followed  out;  but 
it  is  of  a  repentance  commenced  on  the  authority  and  in  the 
fear  of  God,  in  order  to  this  attainment:  nor  is  it  a  question 
of  your  inclination  or  will  to  hate  and  abandon  sin,  but  of 
your  duty  as  a  moral  being,  the  subject  of  God's  government, 
and  the  object  of  his  mercy,  to  .obey  his  commands.  And 
will  you  say  that  you  cannot  repent?  What!  hath  not  "the 
grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salvation  appeared  unto  all 
men,  teaching  us,  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly 
lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this 
present  world,"  looking  for  another  and  a  better,  according 
to  his  promise?  Say  no  more,  then,  neither  give  any  entrance 
to  the  thought,  that  you  cannot  repent  in  the  sense  of  break- 
ing off  from  your  sins  with  sorrow;  that  you  have,  by  them, 
offended  God,  and  incurred  a  guilt  which  you  cannot  expiate; 
for  such  is  the  condition  only  of  devils:  but  rather  bear  in 
mind,  that  "except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish," 
and  thence,  "even  of  yourselves,  judge  what  is  right." 

You  cannot  supply  the  requisites  to  a  spiritual  renewal. 

True;  and  who  hath  required  this  at  your  hands?     Doth  God 

require  of  you  to  change  your  own  heart,  to  renew  the  Holt 

SpiKrr  in  your  own  soul,  and  to  sanctify  your  own  corrupt 

[Vol.  1,— *30.] 


466  THE   NECESSITY    OF  EXERCISING 

nature?  Wherefore,  tlien,  resort  to  tliis  deceit  of  sin?  Do 
you  in  tliis  "judge  what  is  right?"  or  do  you  not  again  "greatly 
err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures?"  But  hath  not  God,  whose 
sole  prerogative  it  is,  promised  to  work  this  renewal  in  you? 
Hath  lie  not  provided  means  to  that  end,  and  instructed  you 
how  to  use  them?  What  are  repentance,  faith,  prayer,  the 
divine  word,  the  holy  sacraments,  but  means  of  grace  for 
the  renewal  of  sinners?  and  hath  not  God  ]>romised  his  Holy 
Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him?  How  say  you,  then,  that  von 
cannot  supply  the  requisites  to  a  spiritual  change? 

You  cannot  comiuand  the  seasons,  either  the  kindly  influ- 
ence of  the  sun  and  of  the  rain  upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth; 
but  do  you,  therefore,  neither  plant,  nor  sow,  nor  labor,  "for 
the  meat  that  perisheth?"  And  is  the  pa'ovision  made  for 
the  nourishment  of  your  souls,  by  the  bread  of  life,  less 
certain  and  more  unmanageable  than  the  seasons  on  M'hich 
the  nourishment  of  your  bodies  depend^  Hath  not  "the  Sun 
of  Righteousness  risen  upon  j^ou  with  healing  in  his  wings?" 
and  are  not  the  rain  and  the  dew  of  God's  lieavenly  blessing 
upon  his  holy  word  and  precious  promises  made  over  to  you 
in  Christ  Jesus?  Alas!  my  friends,  "wh}'  of  yourselves 
judge  ye  not  what  is  right,"  and  by  an  instant  resort  to  the 
means  of  grace,  "labor  for  that  bread  which  endureth  unto 
everlasting  life?" 

God  hath  opened  a  new  and  living  way  to  his  heavenly 
kingdom,  through  his  only  begotten  Son.  He  hath  called 
you  to  the  knowledge  of  this  grace  by  the  gospel:  he  invites 
and  commands  you  to  believe  his  word  and  obey  his  laws, 
as  the  condition  of  eternal  life.  What  you  could  not  do  for 
yourselves  he  hath  accomplished  for  you,  and  laid  your  help 
upon  one  who  is  "able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come 
iiuto  God  by  him." 

Cast  away  from  you,  therefore,  my  dear  bearers,  these 
refuges  of  unbelief,  and  awake  to  the  truth  of  your  condition, 
as  redeemed  beings  on  probation  for  eternity,  with  means 
and  mercies  equal  to  all  your  wants. 

*"Say  not  thou,  it  is  through  the  Lord  that  I  fell  away: 
for  thou  oughtest  not  to  do  the  things  which  he  hateth. 

^Ecclesiasticus,  xv.  11 — 20. 


A   RIGHT   JUDGMENT   IN   OUR   RELIGIOUS    CONCERNS.        467 

*'Say  not  tbou,  lie  hath  caused  me  to  err:  for  he  hath  no 
need  of  the  sinful  man. 

"The  Lord  hateth  all  abomination;  and  they  that  fear  God, 
love  it  not. 

"lie  himself  made  man  from  the  beginning,  and  left  him 
in  the  hand  of  his  counsel; 

"If  thou  wilt,  to  keep  the  commandments,  and  to  perform 
acceptable  faithfulness. 

"lie  hath  set  fire  and  water  before  thee;  stretch  forth  thy 
hand  unto  whether  thou  wilt. 

"Before  man  is  life  and  death;  and  whether  him  liketli, 
shall  be  given  him. 

"For  the  wisdom  of  the  Lord  is  great,  and  he  is  mighty  in 
power,  and  beholdeth  all  things: 

"And  his  eyes  are  upon  them  that  fear  him,  and  he  knoweth 
every  work  of  man. 

"He  hath  commanded  no  man  to  do  wickedly,  neither  hath 
he  given  any  man  license  to  sin." 


SEKMON   XYIII. 

THE   FOLLY   AND   WICKEDNESS    OF  EXCUSES   AGAINST   KELIGION. 

St.  Lukb  XIV.  18. 
"And  they  all,  with  one  consent,  began  to  make  excuse." 

The  consideration  of  the  reception  which  the  gospel  has 
met  with  in  the  world,  presents  a  verj  profitable  and  awaken- 
ing reflection.  That  the  present  life  is  but  the  prelude  to 
another  and  more  important  state  of  being,  seems  the  most 
indelible  impression  which  the  human  mind  has  retained; 
and,  in  their  anxiety  to  penetrate  its  nature,  extent,  and  mode 
of  application  to  themselves,  men  have  exhausted  the  re- 
sources of  ingenuity  and  superstition.  Reasonably,  therefore, 
might  it  be  inferred,  that  when  information  on  this  point, 
possessing  every  character  of  certainty,  was  tendered  to  them, 
it  would  be  most  eagerly  received  and  implicitly  relied  upon. 
Yet  the  history  of  the  world,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  is  one 
widely  extended  record  to  the  contrary.  Under  every  dis- 
pensation of  light  from  heaven,  the  great  majority  of  man- 
kind have  preferred  darkness;  and,  turning  their  ingenuity 
in  anotbe**  direction,  have  again  exhausted  it  in  framing  ex- 
cuses for  the  perverseness  of  their  unbelief. 

Particularly  remarkable,  my  hearers,  is  this  unreasonable 
opposition  to  the  light  of  life,  under  the  full,  final,  and  satis- 
factory discoveries  concerning  time  and  of  eternity,  which 
God  hath  made  to  the  world  by  his  only  begotten  Son,  A 
future  and  endless  state  of  being,  in  the  re-union  of  soul  and 
body,  is  certified  even  to  sense,  by  the  resurrection  and  as- 
cension into  heaven  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus;  while  the  pur- 
pose it  is  to  answer,  of  judgment  and  retribution,  according 
to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  is  the  awakening,  the  equitable^ 
and  reasonable  ground  of  personal  interest  and  superlative 
concern  to  every  soul  of  man.  Yet,  how  superficial  is  the 
effect  of  this  merciful  disclosure  of  the  connexion  between 


4T0  THE  FOLLY  AND  WICKEDNESS 

time  and  eternity  among  ourselves!  How  readily  do  men 
patch  up  excuses  to  quiet  an  uneasy  impression,  and  put  off 
till  to-morrow  the  business  of  to-day!  Yea,  how  daringly  is 
this  miserable  subterfuge  of  sin  disregarded  by  many,  and 
the  tremendous  sanctions  of  eternity  scoffed  at  and  trodden 
under  foot! 

There  is,  however,  another  point  of  view,  which  magnifies, 
if  possible,  the  unreasonableness  of  the  neglect  with  which  it 
is  treated.  The  gospel  unveils  our  deadly  malady  at  its 
source,  in  a  heart  estranged  from  God,  through  sin;  it  sets 
forth  the  deep  corruption  of  our  nature,  in  terms  confirmed 
by  our  own  experience;  it  declares  the  cause  and  the  conse- 
quences of  our  alienation  from  God;  it  exhibits  the  provision 
made  for  our  recovery  and  restoration;  it  offers  the  most 
effectual  means  for  the  renewal  of  our  hearts  and  the  sancti- 
fication  of  our  nature  through  tlie  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  it  invites  every  man  to  come  and  take  of  the  water  of 
life  freely,  in  the  means  of  grace  therein  provided. 

And  there  is  yet  a  third  feature  in  this  gracious  provision 
of  light,  and  life,  and  love,  which  stamps  the  neglect  of  its 
high  discoveries  with  unpardonable  malignity.  Tiie  gospel 
is  not  only  the  full  disclosure,  to  us,  of  what  was  otherwise 
inaccessible  to  our  sin-ruined  faculties,  on  the  high  and 
anxious  interests  of  eternity,  but  it  is  the  manifestation  of 
the  highest  love  for  our  souls — of  the  deepest  interest  in  our 
welfiire — and  of  the  most  unsearchable  wisdom,  in  providing 
for  our  present  and  everlasting  good,  which  God  could  vouch- 
safe to  a  world  of  sinners;  and  is,  moreover,  the  single,  the 
one  only  way,  whereby  to  regain  his  favor  and  attain  the  life 
and  immortality  therein  brought  to  light. 

This,  my  brethren,  is  a  fair  and  moderate  state  of  the  case 
between  the  gospel  and  the  world.  Yet  it  is  such  a  one,  that,, 
were  it  not  sustained  by  the  uniform  testimony  of  eighteen 
hundred  years,  it  might  be  stiguuitized  as  a  most  outrageous 
libel  upon  human  nature;  but,  supported,  as  it  is,  by  the  three- 
fold testimon}'-  of  prophetic  inspiration,  recorded  experience^ 
and  existing  condition,  it  calls  loudly  upon  all  who  are  trifling 
with  God  and  endangering  their  souls,  under  an^^  pretence 
whatever,  to  awake  to  their  condition — to  consider  their  ob- 
ligations under  this  manifestation  of  grace  and  truth — to  test 


OF  EXCUSES   AGAINST   RELIGION.  471- 

their  particular  views  by  the  standard  of  God's  word — to 
weigh  tiie  reasons  and  motives  of  their  conduct  in  the  bahince 
of  the  sanctuary;  and  to  act,  in  this  momentous  concern,  with 
the  cai>e  and  diligence  of  rational,  redeemed  beings,  who  have 
an  eternity  of  happiness  or  misery  revealed  to  them,  as  the 
fruit  of  the  present  short  and  uncertain  life. 

God  only  knows,  my  dear  friends,  how  long  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  M'arn  and  exhort,  and  you  to  hear  and  disregard. 
My  earthly  tabernacle  is  fast  wearing  out,  and  gives  many 
intimations  that  it  must  ere  long  be  dissolved.  Death  too, 
hath  been  busy  among  us  of  late;  warnings  have  flowed  thick 
and  fast  ai'ound.  While,  therefore,  we  have  space  granted 
lis,  let  us  mutually  endeavor  to  improve  it,  by  considering 
serious]}'  tiie  weight  and  worth  of  those  various  excuses  which 
blind  and  harden  the  heart,  and  bar  out  sinners  from  the 
needed  and  offered  mercy  of  God. 

That  what  I  may  find  to  say  on  this  subject  may  be  the 
more  profitable  to  all,  I  shall  observe  the  following  order: 

First,  the  excuses  themselves. 

Secondly,  their  unreasonableness  and  fallacy. 

Thirdly,  what  it  is  that  we  desire  to  be  excused  from, 
and,  then. 

Conclude  with  a  sliort  application  of  the  subject. 

"And  they  all,  with  one  consent,  began  to  make  excuse." 

I.  First,  I  am  to  consider  the  excuses  themselves. 

Whatever  change  may  have  taken  place  in  the  external 
circumstances  of  Christianity,  none  has  or  can  take  place  in 
its  unchangeable  nature  and  most  gracious  purpose.  In  like 
manner,  whatever  change  may  have  taken  place  in  the  ex- 
ternal condition  of  mankind;  however  they  may  have  ad- 
vanced in  knowledge,  and  improved  in  tiie  arts  and  accom- 
modations of  civilized  life,  under  the  light  of  the  gospel;  yet 
no  change  has  taken  place  in  the  original  nature  and  corrupt 
disposition  of  the  being  for  whose  benefit  it  is  provided,  and 
liefore  wiiom  all  its  unspeakable  blessings  are  spread  out, 
and  to  M-hom  the  invitation  is  put  forth,  to  come  and  partake 
of  this  iieavenly  feast.  lie  is  still  the  same  fallen  creature, 
to  be  saved  only  by  grace,  and  who  can  obtain  the  grace 
that  saveth  no  otherwise  than  by  embracing  the  gospel. 

That  the  ground  of  opposition,  then,  and  the  excuses  re- 


472  THE   FOLLY   AND    WICKEDNESS 

sorted  to,  for  the  neglect  of  this  manifestation  of  the  love  of 
God  to  a  world  of  sinners,  should  be  of  the  same  character 
and  description  now  as  at  the  beginning,  we  are  prepared  to 
expect.  And  that  they  are  scions  from  the  same  root  of 
bitterness, — "the  carnal  mind,  which  is  enmity  against  God," 
— the  terms  in  which  the  parable  is  framed  put  beyond  all 
reasonable  doubt. 

"A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  and  bade  many:  and 
sent  his  servant,  at  supper  time,  to  say  to  them  that  were 
bidden,  come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready;  and  they  all,  with 
one  consent,  began  to  make  excuse.  The  first  said  unto  him, 
I  have  bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I  must  needs  go  and 
see  it — I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.  And  another  said,  I 
have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go  to  prove  them — I 
pray  thee  have  me  excused.  And  another  said,  I  have  mar- 
ried a  wife,  and,  therefore,  I  cannot  come." 

Of  the  excuses  themselves,  then,  we  are  instructed  by  the 
parable,  that  they  are  all  of  a  worldly  and  sensual  nature, 
that  they  are  prompted  by  that  inordinate  preference  of  tem- 
])oral  advantages  and  delights,  which  constitutes  the  wisdom 
of  the  natural  man,  and  that  they  amount  to  a  wilful  rejec- 
tion of  salvation. 

The  enemy  of  God  and  man  finds  his  most  powerful  Avea- 
pon  against  our  souls,  by  presenting  the  riches  and  the  plea- 
sures, the  enjoyments  and  the  sufterings,  of  the  present  life, 
nnder  such  an  aspect  as  removes  them  altogether  from  their 
lawful  and  appointed  use,  and  renders  them  sinful  and  de- 
structive. Hence  it  is  that  he  is  called  "the  god  of  this 
world,"  and  "the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of 
disobedience,"  or  unbelief;  for  God  has  neither  left  us  in 
ignorance  of  the  true  and  profital>le  use  and  improvement  of 
our  worldly  condition,  nor  yet  abridged  ns  in  the  safe  and 
lawful  enjoyment  of  those  blessings  and  comforts  which  his 
mercy  hath  bestowed  on  our  un  worth  in  ess. 

Farms  and  merchandise,  and  professions  and  occupations, 
in  all  their  variety,  are  lawful  in  themselves,  helpful  to  the 
accommodations  of  life,  and  necessary  to  maintain  the  state 
of  the  world;  without  them,  mankind  must  have  continued  in 
a  state  of  ignorance  and  barbarism  but  little  removed  from 
the  condition  of  the  beasts  that  ])erish.     They  are,  therefore, 


OF    EXCUSES   AGAINST   KELIGION.  473 

the  appointment  of  God  for  tlie  order  and  repose  of  social 
life;  and,  as  such,  cannot,  in  themselves,  be  in  opposition  to 
or  inconsistent  with  any  other  of  his  appointments  for  the 
well-being  of  his  creatures.  But  religion,  or  the  occupation 
of  pi'eparing  for  and  securing  a  state  of  happiness  in  the  life 
that  is  to  come,  is  equally,  though  in  a  higher  sense,  the  ap- 
pointment of  God.  Our  worldly  duties,  therefore,  so  far  as. 
they  are  of  God,  can  never  be  inconsistent  with  the  duties  of 
religion,  nor  form  a  justifiable  excuse  for  the  neglect  of  them. 
Whenever,  therefore,  they  conflict  with  each  other,  that  is, 
when  our  worldly  interest  or  enjoyment  comes  in  opposition 
to  the  interest  of  our  souls,  we  are  before-hand  sure  which  is 
"the  good  part  which  shall  not  be  taken  from  us."  By  pre- 
ferring our  souls  to  the  world,  however  flattering  its  promises 
or  frightful  its  threaten ings,  we  secure  both  present  peace 
and  everlasting  reward;  whereas,  by  yielding  to  the  tempta- 
tion, our  gain,  or  advantage,  or  enjoyment,  whichever  it  may 
be,  even  if  we  succeed,  is  but  for  a  moment;  for  the  few  and 
uncertain  years  of  the  life  that  now  is  are  loaded  with  the 
fearful  apprehensions  of  an  evil  conscience,  and  will  be  met, 
on  the  threshold  of  eternity,  M'ith  the  awful  inquiry,  "What 
is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  own  soul?" 

Unanswerable,  however,  as  these  truths  are,  and  fully  as 
they  are  responded  to  by  the  secret  voice  of  every  conscience, 
yet  such  is  the  power  of  inordinate  affection,  of  the  law  in 
the  members  warring  against  the  law  of  the  mind,  that  the 
world,  called  christian,  is  but  one  mournful  display,  that  "the 
things  of  the  Spirit  or  God  are  foolishness  to  the  natural  man." 
His  preference  is  for  "the  things  that  are  seen;"  his  depen- 
dence is  upon  the  things  which  perish;  his  expectations  are 
limited  by  time;  his  views  of  the  future  are  dark  and  uneasy, 
yea,  sonietimes  trouV>lesome  and  painful;  but  they  can  be  ob- 
scured or  blotted  c»ut  under  the  care  of  other  things,  and, 
while  this  can  be  done,  he  begs  to  be  excused.  He  looks 
light  in  the  face,  the  light  of  eternal  life  in  the  discovery  of 
the  gospel,  and  yet  he  pi'efers  darkness;  hence  it  is  that 
wordly  prosperity  and  worldly  engagement  are  both  such 
enemies  to  the  soul.  "Not  man)'  wise  men  after  the  flesh, 
not  many  mighty,  not  manj'^  noble  are  called;" — called,  in- 


474  THE   FOLLY   AND   WICKEDNESS 

deed,  they  are,  but  they  pray  to  be  excused,  and,  therefore, 
tlie  apostle  expresses  their  refusal  in  a  phraseology  peculiar 
to  the  Scriptures.  In  like  manner,  "they  that  will  be  rich," 
says  the  same  apostle,  they  whose  hearts  are  set  upon  a  por- 
tion in  this  life,  "fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into 
many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruc- 
,tion  and  perdition,"  so  that  "if  our  gospel  be  hid  it  is  hid  to 
them  that  are  lost,"  through  inordinate  preference  of  tempo- 
ral advantages  and  delights,  or,  as  the  same  blessed  apostle 
again  expresses  it,  "in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath 
blinded  the  minds  of  them  that  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of 
the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should 
shine  unto  them."  Hence  we  learn,  my  brethren,  the  whole- 
some but  unpalatable  lesson  of  the  goodness,  yea,  even  of 
the  mercy  of  God,  in  those  various  visitations  of  his  Provi- 
dence whereby  he  blasts  our  fondest  earthly  hopes,  strikes 
away  our  w^orldly  props  and  defences,  and  thereby  admon- 
ishes us  to  place  our  dependence  on  a  more  secure  founda- 
tion, cTen  on  Him  whose  word  shall  endure  when  this  world 
and  all  its  glory  shall  be  dissolved  in  the  consuming  fire  of 
the  second  advent  of  him  who  once  came  to  save  and  will 
again  come  to  judge. 

But  what  demonstrates  more  fully  tlie  madness  of  this  pro- 
pensity, and  leaves  its  entertainers  without  excuse,  is,  the  just 
and  obvious  conclusion  which  the  diviiie  wisdom  draws  from 
such  conduct.  God  having  put  forth  the  wonders  of  liis  love 
for  our  recovery  from  sin  and  eternal  death,  and  invited  us 
to  retui'n  to  his  favor  and  everlasting  life,  through  the  merits 
and  death  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  to  reject 
the  gospel,  or,  which  is  exactly  the  sanae  thing  in  effect,  to 
excuse  ourselves  from  its  requirements,  is  a  wilful  rejection 
of  the  means  of  grace,  and,  consequently,  of  salvation.  "I 
say  unto  you,"  says  our  Lord,  "that  none  of  those  men  which 
were  bidden  shall  taste  of  my  supper." 

I  know,  indeed,  that  it  is  not  the  deliberate  purpose  of 
those  who  thus  trifle  with  eternity  to  embrace  perdition;  but 
as  all  are  bound  to  consider  impartially  the  grounds  and  ar- 
guments of  revealed  religion;  as  all  can  deduce  this  necessary 
consequence  from  the  nature  and  express  conditions  of  tiie 
gospel;  and  as  reason  itself  is  competent  to  refute  the  most 


OF   EXCUSES   AGAINST   RELIGION.  475, 

specious  excuses  on  so  tremendous  an  alternative  as  that  of 
everlasting  life  or  eternal  death,  put  to  tlie  choice  of  account- 
able creatures;  neglect  of  the  gospel  is  justly  considered  and 
treated,  by  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  as  the  deliberate  rejection 
of  all  that  God  hath  done  and  Christ  hath  suffered  for  the 
salvation  of  sinners. 

Now,  my  dear  hearers,  wherein  do  the  excuses  of  the 
present  day  differ,  either  in  their  letter  or  their  spirit,  from 
those  detailed  in  the  parable?  And  wherefore  shall  not  the 
same  measure  be  meted  to  those  who  now  slight  the  invita- 
tion of  the  gospel,  as  to  those  persons  who  first  desired  to  be 
excused  from  accepting  it?  Yet  to  look  around  in  the  world, 
and  consider  the  number  and  description  of  persons  who 
make  the  lawful  duties  and  occupations  of  the  present  life 
an  excuse  for  overlooking  the  care  of  their  immortal  souls, 
one  might  suppose  that  some  alteration  had  taken  place  in 
the  counsels  of  heaven;  or  that  the  love  of  the  world  and  of 
the  things  that  are  therein  had  changed  its  character,  and 
become  the  ready  way  to  obtain  the  favor  of  God  and  the  re- 
wards of  the  life  to  come.  For  if  we  consider  this  subject 
with  the  care  it  deserves,  we  shall  perceive  that  these  ex- 
cuses are  not  made  by  the  poor  and  profligate,  but  by  the 
more  decent,  orderly,  and  careful  sort  of  people,  by  the  men 
of  wealth  and  substance,  of  name  and  note — the  possessors  of 
farms  and  teams,  and  of  the  means  of  sensual  gratification. 
And  it  is  not  an  unreasonable  conclusion,  that  tiie  parable 
was  thus  framed  in  order  to  present  a  more  striking  warning 
against  this  powerful,  prominent,  and  destructive  propensity 
of  our  fallen  nature, — to  knock  at  the  dour  of  theii'  hearts, 
who  hear  the  word  indeed,  but  suffer  it  to  be  choked  and 
rendered  unfruitful  by  the  thorns  and  briars  of  worldly  occu- 
pation and  sensual  delights, — to  show  tiie  wealthy  and  the 
prosperous,  and  the  busy  and  the  thoughtless,  where  their 
danger  lies,  and  to  set  their  calculations  at  work  upon  eternity. 
V  The  po(jr  and  tiie  profligate  have  their  excuses  also  against 
the  gospel;  but  tliey  are  of  a  different  ciiaracter,  and  are 
equally  i)i'ovided  against  in  that  word  which  is  able  to  make 
all  sorts  of  sinners  "wise  unto  salvation."  But  as  the  main 
deceit  of  sin,  as  the  most  j>re>ent  and  })0werfnl  tlelusion  of 
the  devil,  the  love  of  the  wt)rld,  including  the  ]»Ieasures  whicli 


470 


THE    FOLLY    AND   WICKEDNESS 


the  world  can  bestow,  is  chiefly  dwelt  ujxm,  is  placed  in  the 
IVoiit  of  our  common  danger,  and  the  light  of  divine  truth  is 
thrown  so  clear  and  strong  upon  it,  as  to  render  excuse  inex- 
cusable. "If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father 
is  not  in  liim.  Ye  adulterers  and  adulteresses,  know  ye  not 
that  the  friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God?  Who- 
soever, therefore,  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy 
of  God."  Yes,  indeed,  ye  know  it;  but  ye  beg  to  be  excused 
from  taking  heed  either  to  the  M^arning  or  the  invitation.  But 
let  the  world  send  forth  its  invitations,  who,  then,  returns  the 
contemptuous  refusal?  Alas!  that  even  those  who  profess 
that  they  seek  a  better  country,  too  often  exercise  their  in- 
genuity in  fashioning  excuses,  and  are  found  sitting  at  meat 
in  the  idol's  temple.  And  what  is  the  result,  the  open  un- 
blushing result,  in  this  Christian  land?  Full  theatres,  over- 
flowing parties  of  pleasure,  and  empty  churches;  thousands 
squandei'ed  on  folly,  fashion,  and  sin,  and  the  religion  of  the 
gopj^el,  the  science  of  salvation,  turned  over  to  the  meagre 
support  of  the  scraps  and  remnants  which  the  full-fed  world 
can  spare  from  the  table  of  its  delights.  O  truth,  where  is 
thy  force?  O  reason,  where  is  thy  power?  O  conscience, 
Avhere  is  thy  voice?     O  shame,  where  is  thy  blush? 

11.  Secondly,  I  am  to  show  the  unreasonableness  and  fal- 
lacy of  these  and  all  other  excuses  on  this  subject. 

This  you  may  say,  my  hearers,  is  needless — the  point  is 
eelf-evident;  but  if  so,  then  surely  their  guilt  is  the  greater, 
who  thus  say  and  do  not.  "If  ye  were  blind,"  said  our  Lokd 
to  the  Pharisees,  "ye  should  have  no  sin;  but  now  ye  say,  we 
see,  therefore  your  sin  remaineth."  Yet  as  we  know  from 
experience,  that  many  are  prejudiced  against  the  gospel  un- 
der the  wide-spread  delusion  that  a  profession  of  religion  is 
incompatible  with  the  business  of  the  world;  to  such  it  may 
he  helpful,  while  to  others  it  cannot  be  grievous,  to  show  how 
utterly  unfounded  the  notion  is,  and  thereby  manifest  more 
clearly  the  folly  and  sinfulness  of  every  objection  to  the  only 
hope  man  is  possessed  of  on  this  side  the  grave. 

Now  the  objection  itself  is  founded  on  an  erroneous  view, 
both  of  religion  and  of  the  world.  Men  take  certain  things 
for  granted,  on  each  side,  and  thence  conclude,  without  suf- 
jicieut  examination,  that  there  is  no  point  of  agreement  be- 


OF   EXCUSES   AGAINST   RELIGION.  477 

tween  their  known  oppositions.  And  this,  itself,  is  siiflicient 
to  show  the  unreasonableness  of  the  conclusion,  and  of  the 
excuses  founded  on  it;  because  a  little  more  care  to  understand 
what  religion  really  is,  and  in  what  manner  its  supreme  ob- 
ligations bear  upon  and  are  connected  with  the  present  life, 
would  give  an  entirely  diiFerent  view  of  the  subject;  and 
show,  beyond  dispute,  that  as  the  religion  of  the  gospel  is 
contrived  and  instituted  by  inlinite  wisdom,  for  man  in  this 
world,  every  calling  and  occupation  which  the  state  of  the 
world  demands,  and  variety  of  condition  calls  into  operation, 
may  be  followed  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  in  agreement  with 
the  requirements  of  Christianity.  But  the  objection  is  fur- 
ther shown  to  be  unreasonable  from  this,  that  it  never  springs 
from  any  opposition  between  religion  and  the  fair  and  honest 
exercise  of  our  particular  calling,  but  between  religion  and 
fraudulent,  injurious,  or  oppressive  conduct,  which  would 
bring  advantage  to  one,  to  the  loss  of  another,  or  of  many. 
This  God  abhors  and  religion  condemns,  because  it  is  iniqui- 
ty; and,  therefore,  those  men  who  possess  the  disposition  of 
beasts  of  prey,  and  would  live  by  devouring  their  fellow 
creatures,  condemn  religion,  and  pray  to  be  excused  from 
its  duties.  For  religion  is  the  great  guardian  of  human 
rights  and  of  human  happiness;  its  gracious  purpose  is,  peace 
and  good  will  on  earth,  the  alleviation  of  human  misery  by 
the  fruits  of  kindness,  compassion,  and  mercy,  and  to  perpet- 
uate, in  eternity,  the  felicity  which  flows  from  the  exercise 
of  mutual  love. 

Equally  unreasonable  is  the  objection  to  religion,  from  the 
unfounded  notion,  that  Christianity  is  inconsistent  wdth  the 
pleasures  and  enjoyments  of  life.  On  this  mistaken  but  pre- 
vailing notion,  the  young  and  the  gay,  equally  with  the  dis- 
solute and  the  profligate,  stand  back  from  the  due  considera- 
tion of  religion,  and  excuse  themselves  from  its  indispensable 
obligations.  That  the  vicious  should  thus  act  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at;  that  the  profligate  should  be  opposed  to  what 
condemns  their  course  of  life  is  to  be  expected;  but  that  those 
who  can  neither  be  called  vicious  or  profligate,  further  than 
by  seeking  amusement  and  satisfaction  where  the  vicious  and 
the  profligate  are  too  surely  to  be  found,  should  thus  sacri- 
fice the  respect  due  to  religion  and  themselves,  may  justly 


478  THE   FOLLY   AND   WICKEDNESS 

excite  .admiration:  yet  so  it  is,  and  every  assembly  for  what 
is  called  public  amusement,  is  ])roof  of  the  deplorable  bias 
npon  the  mind  of  man,  to  lind  pleasure  in  the  dissipation  of 
thought,  and  entertainment  from  the  exhibition  of  human 
de])ravity. 

( 'Ould  they,  however,  be  prevailed  npon  to  reflect — would 
they  but  give  the  claims  of  the  gospel  a  fair  and  unprejudiced 
liearing — above  all,  would  they  but  make  the  experiment  of 
what  it  denies  and  what  it  grants  to  those  who  embrace  it, 
they  would  learn,  that,  within  the  bounds  of  innocence,  re- 
ligion lays  no  interdict  upon  enjoyment — "her  ways  are  ways 
of  ])leasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace."     Her  wise  and 
wholesome  regulations  guard  only  against  sin,  as  the  grand 
enemy  of  all  true  pleasure:  and,  as  sin  makes  its  insidious 
approaches  chiefly  nnder  the  mask  of  profit  and  enjoyment, 
religion  calls  upon  her  votaries  to  be  on  their  guard  against 
these  too  seductive  evils;  to  weigh  their  tendency  as  respects 
the  great  purpose  of  the  present  life  in  preparing  for  another; 
and,  according  as  the  w^elfare  of  eternity  will  be  aftected,  to 
follow  or  renounce  them.     Yet  w^hat  numbers,  nevertheless, 
desire  to  be  excused  from  the  reasonable  service,  which  their 
duty  to  God  and  to  their  own  souls,  their  comfort  here  and 
their  happiness  hereafter,  requires.     How  many,  who  would 
start  with  afi'right  from  what  is  directly  sinful,  nnder  the 
spell  of  this  delusion  feel  neither  the  disgrace  of  being  com- 
panions of  the  vicious,  the  unreasonableness  of  such  unprofit- 
able waste  of  time,  or  the  deadly  sin  of  closing  their  ears  and 
hardening  their  hearts  against  the  invitations  of  the  gospel. 
Yet  even  the  youngest  must  know  that  a  time  will  come 
when  consolation  will  be  sought,  when  an  approaching  change 
of  being  will  prompt  questions  to  the  soul,  which  the  world 
cannot  answer;  when  neither  its  profits  nor  its  pleasures  can 
give  ease  to  a  wounded  spirit,  or  assuage  the  anguish  of  re- 
morse; and  when  all  that  is  contained  within  the  circle  of  its 
power  would  be  surrendered  for  that  peace  wdiicli  religion 
confers  on  the  dying  bed  of  the  Christian.     Carry  forward 
your  thoughts,  then,  my  hearers,  to  that  moment  which  none 
can  escape;  bring  the  excuses,  nnder  which  yon  are  blinding 
yourselves  against  the  light,  to  this  test;  and,  if  they  will  not 
serve  you  then,  be  ye  as  sure  as  truth  can  make  it,  that  they 


OF   EXCUSES    AGAINST   KELIGIOX.  479 

are  now  no  other  than  a  wortliless  fallacy — a  deceit  of  sin — 
a  snare  of  the  devil,  from  which  you  cannot  too  speedily  res- 
cue your  souls.  Clear,  however,  as  this  must  be  to  all,  it  will 
be  still  more  apparent  if  we  consider,  as  was  proposed, 

III.  In  the  third  }tlace,  what  it  is,  that  we  desire  to  be  ex- 
cused from. 

And  M-hat  is  it,  my  dear  friends,  that  so  many  of  you  seem 
not  only  oj)posed  to,  but  even  afraid  oi"i  Alas!  that  so  few 
permit  their  thoughts  to  dwell  upon  the  purpose  of  religion 
— the  gracious  purpose  of  God's  love  to  rescue  immortal 
souls  from  the  power  of  sin  and  eternal  death,  and  prepare 
them,  by  the  renewal  and  sanctitieation  of  their  natures,  for 
everlasting  life  and  endless  felicity,  in  his  heavenly  kingdom. 
It  is  heaven,  then,  with  all  its  glories;  it  is  God  with  all  his 
perfections;  it  is  Curist  and  his  unspeakable  love,  that  you 
beg  to  be  excused  from,  for  these  are  no  otherwise  to  be  at- 
tained than  by  the  grace  of  the  gospel;  nor  can  that  grace  be 
obtained  otherwise  than  by  coming  to  Christ  in  the  open 
profession  and  practice  of  his  religion.  xVnd  can  many  words 
be  necessary  to  convince  you  of  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
such  excuses?  God  forbid.  For  "how  shall  we  escape  if  we 
neglect  so  great  salvation?"  Yet  this  is  not  all  that  is  invol- 
ved in  making  light  of  the  invitations  of  the  gospel.  You  do 
not  only  hereby  reject  heaven,  but  you  2:)refer  hell;  you  do  not 
only  refuse  salvation,  but  you  choose  perdition;  you  do  not 
only  turn  away  from  holiness,  but  you  embrace  sin;  you  do 
not  only  deny  your  Saviour,  but  you  trample  on  his  blood, 
and  choose  your  betrayer  for  your  king — for  there  is  no  al- 
ternative between  being  saved  or  lost — no  middle  ground  be- 
tween heaven  and  hell;  nor  is  there  any  Saviour  but  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified. 

To  this  awful  condition  will  these  excuses,  if  persisted  in, 
bring  all  who  now  resort  to  them;  and  if  this  is  as  sure  as  the 
truth  of  God,  there  can  be  but  one  application  for  all  to  make 
of  what  has  been  said.  Cast  away,  then,  these  refuges  of  lies, 
'•receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted  word,  which  is  able  to 
save  your  souls;''  and  now,  even  "to-day,  if  you  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts,"  but  come  to  that  mercy  and 
love  which  God  hath  provided,  through  his  only  begotten 
Son,  for  penitent  sinners.    Delay  not  till  to-morrow,  but  now, 


4S0  THE  FOLLY  AND  WICKEDNESS,  &C. 

while  conscience  is  awakened,  liearken  to  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  his  gracious  convictions,  follow  the  admonitions  of  his 
saving  wisdom,  and  reap  the  blessed  fruit  of  that  peace  which 
the  world  cannot  give,  which  it  cannot  take  away,  and 
which  shall  endure  for  ever. 


SERMON   XIX. 


GOD'S   ANGER   AGAINST   THE   WICKED. 


Psalm  vii.  11. 
"God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day." 

The  most  alarming  and  dangerous  condition  that  can  be 
imagined  is,  that  of  exposure  to  the  wi*ath  of  God.  'No  seri- 
ous mind  can  contemplate  it  with  any  comj)osm*e,  nor  can 
any  rational  mind  choose  to  continue  liable  to  such  utter  and 
irreversible  destruction  as  must  follow  its  exercise. 

To  what,  then,  my  brethren  and  hearers,  are  we  to  ascribe 
the  prevailing  disregard  of  the  sanctions  of  eternity  mani- 
fested by  the  numbers  who  know  and  profess  to  believe  that 
"life  and  immortality  are  brought  to  light  by  the  gospel," 
that  "the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all 
unrighteousness  of  men,"  that  "God  hath  appointed  a  day  in 
the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,"  when 
"the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell  and  all  the  nations  that 
forget  God?"  Is  it  to  unbelief— that  they  really  do  not  give 
credence  to  what  nevertheless  they  profess  to  receive  as  the 
truth  of  God?  Certainly  the  Scriptures  ascribe  it  to  this 
cause,  upon  the  sure  ground  that  a  belief  professed  which 
yet  produces  no  corresponding  effect,  is,  in  fact,  no  belief. 
But  as  this  is  affirmed,  rather  of  the  saving  efficacy  of  faith, 
as  a  fruit  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  than  of  the  fact  that  men  may 
and  do  believe,  in  the  sense  of  acknowledging,  what  never- 
theless produces  little  or  no  effect  upon  the  conduct  of  their 
lives,  some  other  cause  must  be  assigned  for  this  disregard  in 
practice  of  what  is  yet  admitted  and  assented  to  by  all. 

As  the  most  general,  then,  I  would  assign  the  want  of  due 
consideration.  Men  content  themselves  with  the  admission 
of  the  fact,  but  they  do  not  take  and  carry  it  out  in  its  appli- 
cation to  themselves;  they  do  not  dwell  upon  it  as  a  j^ractical 
truth,  upon  which  both  time  and  eternity  are  suspended* 
They  do  not  consider  it  as  divine  and  infallible  iuformationj 
[Vol.  1,— *81.] 


482  god'^s  anger  against  the  wiokbd. 

kindly  given  for  them  to  act  upon,  as  upon  any  otlier  tnitla 
affecting  their  interest;  and  thus  the  way  is  open  for  every 
dehision  of  the  world,  every  deceit  of  sin,  and  every  artifice 
of  the  devil,  to  enter  in  and  prevail  against  their  souls.  To' 
what  but  inconsideration  of  known  and  admitted  truth,  can 
it  be  ascribed,  my  brethren,  that  the  threatenings  of  Goi> 
against  sin,  and  the  promises  of  God  to  repentance,  are  equally 
disregarded  by  those  who  yet,  in  terms,  confess  that  they  are 
sinners,  and  consequently  are  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  God? 
To  what  other  cause  can  it  be  assigned,  that,  amidst  the  vis- 
ible uncertainties  of  human  life,  we  see  all  ages  so  utterly 
negligent  of  the  only  rational  preparation  for  a  peaceful  and 
happy  death?  "What  else  is  it  that  deludes  the  habitual,  wil- 
ful sinner,  into  the  monstrous  absurdity  of  setting  off  the 
mercy  of  God  against  the  wrath  of  God,  and  thence  encour- 
aging himself  to  go  on  still  in  his  wickedness?  From  what 
other  source  does  it  spring,  that  the  more  orderly  and  moral 
portion  of  the  community  speak  peace  to  themselves  in  a 
righteousness  which  exceeds  not  the  righteousness  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees?  And  how  otherwise  can  we  account 
for  the  preponderance  of  the  world  and  the  things  that  are 
in  it,  in  the  affection  and  pursuit  of  immortal  beings,  whG 
have  revealed  to  them  and  prepared  for  them  an  everlasting 
and  unfading  inheritance  of  heavenly  glory,  on  the  condition 
of  overcoming  th.e  world?  These  are  inquiries  of  force,  suflS.- 
cient  to  detect  that  evil  heart  of  unbelief  which  neutralizea 
both  the  promises  and  threatenings  of  Almighty  God,  conr 
verts  the  glorious  discoveries  of  the  gospel  into  a  dead  letter,, 
and  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  into  an  occasion  of  deeper 
condemnation,  and  which,  if  followed  out  as  they  ought  to 
be,  will  prove  mighty  to  awaken  in  every  heart  the  serious 
investigation  of  its  condition  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
enable  us  all  to  determine,  whether  we  are  vessels  of  wrath 
or  vessels  of  mercy. 

It  is  a  very  solemn  inquiry,  my  hearers,  and  one  which  nO' 
person  should  be  heedless  or  even  indifferent  in  making, 
much  less  opposed  to;  because  it  is  only  by  knowing  what 
we  are  that  we  can  be  confirmed  in  what  is  right,  or  be 
moved  to  become  what  we  should,  and  what  we  may  be. 
Let  us,  threfore,  consider  the  text  as  j)resenting  the  following 
points  to  our  most  serious  attention: 


god's  anger  against  the  wicked.  483 

First,  what  description  of  persons  is  here  intended,  b  j  the 
words  "the  wicked." 

Secondly,  what  will  be  the  consequences  of  God's  anger 
to  tliose  who  continue  to  be  of  this  description. 

Thirdly,  by  what  means  the  character  itself  may  be 
changed,  and  the  consequences  escaped. 

"God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day." 

I.  First,  to  consider  what  descriptions  of  persons  are  here 
intended  by  the  words  "the  wicked." 

In  the  actual  condition  of  the  world,  and  from  the  very 
nature  of  virtue  and  vice,  there  can  be  but  two  descriptions 
of  characters  among  mankind,  in  the  estimation  of  Almighty 
God.  And  these  are,  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  And 
though  there  are  undoubtedly  degrees  in  virtue  as  well  as 
vice,  not  only  in  our  sight,  but  also  in  the  sight  of  God, 
yet  as  these  are  opposite  principles,  one  of  which  must  have 
the  ascendancy  in  every  individual,  his  denomination  is 
thereby  determined.  In  a  state  of  trial  for  recovery  from 
the  fatal  effects  of  sin,  which  is  that  of  mankind  in  the  pre- 
sent life,  every  thing  of  a  moral  nature  must  be  progressive;, 
men  grow  gradually  better,  or  gradually  worse,  according  to 
the  means  and  exertions  made  use  of.  In  this  mixed  condi- 
tion, to  find  a  character  so  bad  that  in  it  there  is  no  good 
thing,  or  so  good  that  in  it  there  is  nothing  bad,  is  out  of 
the  range  of  our  experience;  and  though,  with  our  limited 
view  of  motive  and  conduct,  we  may  not  always  be  able  to 
ascertain  with  certainty  the  predominant  principle,  and 
thereby  the  denomination  of  the  man,  yet  to  Almighty  God 
there  is  no  such  obstacle,  but  every  individual  stands  fully 
disclosed  and  thoroughly  understood  in  the  absolute  truth  of 
the  presiding  principle  which  determines  his  moral  condition 
as  righteous  or  wicked. 

This  standard  principle,  for  the  determination  of  moral 
condition,  is  set  forth  in  Scripture  under  a  great  variety  of 
expressions,  all  enforcing  the  irrefragable  truth,  that  the 
union  of  a  right  motive  with  a  good  action,  is  that  which 
alone  renders  the  conduct  of  accountable  beings  righteous 
and  acceptable  with  God.  "Either  make  the  tree  good  and 
his  fruit  good,  or  else  make  the  tree  corrupt  and  his  fruit 
corrupt;  for  the  tree  is  known  by  his  fruit."     Hence,  as  the 


484  god's  anger  against  the  wicked. 

love  of  God  is  the  love  of  goodness,  absolute  and  unquali- 
fied— ^where  this  principle  is  shed  abroad  in  the  heart, 
as  the  apostle  expresses,  it,  it  will  manifest  itself  by  its 
proper  fruits.  These  may,  and,  indeed,  will  be,  accompanied 
with  much  imperfection,  and  mixed  up  with  many  of  the 
corruptions  of  a  fallen  nature,  even  in  the  best  of  men. 
^Nevertheless,  as  God  looks  upon  the  heart,  as  he  sees  there 
its  true  desire,  and  discerns  the  godly  son*ow  and  self  abase- 
ment wliicli  grow  out  of  this  infirmity  and  corruption,  and 
how  earnestly  it  is  prayed  and  striven  against,  he  also  sees 
there  his  own  image  renewed  in  part;  he  sees  it  improving 
to  a  fuller  and  stronger  likeness,  and  he  approves  of  and 
accepts  it  according  to  the  merciful  conditions  of  the  grace 
given  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  before  the  world  began. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  the  love  of  sin  is  the  love  of  vice 
and  wickedness,  equally  absolute  and  unqualified,  where  this 
predominates,  it  will  also  manifest  itself  by  its  proper  fruits. 
These,  in  like  manner,  may  be  accompanied  with  occasional 
instances  of  good  done  to  and  compassion  manifested  for 
others.  But,  as  the  same  God  sees  in  the  heart  no  feature  of 
his  renewed  image;  as  he  discerns  no  motive  to  sanctify  the 
exercise  of  constitutional  good-natm-e  and  self-gratification; 
as  the  love  of  sin,  and  not  the  love  of  God  and  goodness, 
rules  and  predominates  over  the  conduct  of  the  man,  he  is 
classed,  accordingly,  among  those  with  whom  "God  is  angry 
every  day,"  or  continually. 

Hence,  the  two  descriptions  of  mankind  are  represented  in 
the  Scriptures  according  to  the  principle  by  which  they  are 
respectively  actuated.  Of  the  wicked  it  is  said,  that  "God  is 
not  in  all  his  thoughts;"  that  "there  is  no  fear  of  God  before 
his  eyes;"  that  "the  wicked,  through  the  pride  of  his  coun- 
tenance, will  not  seek  after  God."  And  of  the  righteous  it  is 
said,  that  "they  delight  in  God;"  that  "they  fear  God  and 
keep  his  commandments;"  that  "they  set  the  Lord  continually 
before  them;"  that  "they  seek  after  God."  From  this  de- 
lineation of  character,  we  may  understand  to  what  descrip- 
tion of  persons  the  words  of  my  text  apply — and  so  apply, 
that  every  individual  may  therefrom  learn  to  which  class  he 
belongs. 

But,  however  plain  and  direct  the  general  principle  may 


god's   anger   against   the   "WICKED.  485 

be,  it  is  necessary  to  press  upon  your  attention,  my  brethren 
and  hearers,  that  in  its  application  to  ourselves,  as  under  a 
particular  dispensation  of  religion,  great  self-deception  may 
be  and  is  practised.     IS^othing  is  more  common  in  Christian 
lands,  and  I  fear  it  is  extending  with  accelerated  speed,  than 
for  men  to  rest  upon  this  general  j^rinciple,  divested  of  those 
peculiar  evidences  which  the  gospel  requires,  as  the  only  al- 
lowable proof,  that  the  assumption  of  it  is  warranted  and  may 
be  relied  upon,  for  hope  towards  God.  What  sentiment  more 
common  and  more  relied  upon  than  this,  that  if  the  heart  be 
right  towards  God,  it  matters  not  as  to  other  things.     And 
what  notion  has  tended  more  to  sever  Christians  from  each 
other,  to  lower  in  their  estimation  the  appointments  of  the 
gospel,  and  to  generate  and  support  those  divisions  and  sepa- 
rations from  the  very  bond  of  peace  and  of  all  virtues,  which 
prostrate  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  at  the  foot-stool  of 
natural  religion,  and  render  stipulated  conditions  of  mercy 
and  instituted  means  of  grace  subservient  to  the  caprice  or 
convenience  of  human  opinion.     True  it  is,  that  if  the  heart 
be  right  with  God,  the  main  point,  the  one  thing  needful,  is 
gained.     But  how  can  that  person's  heart  be  right  with  God, 
whose  life  is  not  conformed  to  the  requirements  of  God,  in 
the  gospel  of  his  Son?     To  assume  that  the  heart  is  right,  and 
thence  to  conclude  that  the  life  cannot  be  wrong,  is  to  invert 
the  whole  ground  of  Christian  assurance,  and,  in  fact,  to  sub- 
vert the  gospel,  as  the  standard  of  hope  to  man.     Because 
the  tree  is  only  to  be  known  by  its  fruit.     What  ground  has 
any  person  to  conclude  that  his  heart  is  right  towards  God, 
other  than  by  the  fruit  of  its  aifections,  made  visible  in  the 
actions  of  the  lifci'     Ground,  certainly,  there  is  none,  other 
than  that  of  miraculous  attestation,  Avhich,  whosoever  now 
contends  for,  is  evidently  under  a  strong  delusion.  And  yet, 
through  this  door  of  deceit,  Avliat  a  flood  of  laxity,  indiflference, 
and  consequent  infidelity  of  revealed  religion,  has  entered  in. 
How  is  charity  broken,  unity  dissolved,  faith  falsified,  and 
Christ   divided!     And   what   is   the  answer,  the  standing 
answer,  to  all  admonition  on  these  vital  points?     If  the  heart 
be  right,  all  is  right.     Counsel  is  taken  from  feelings,  rather 
than  from  commandments,  and  the  woi-d  of  God  made  of 
none  efifect. 


486  god's  anger  against  the  wicked. 

Yet  certain  it  is,  mj  brethren,  that  only  on  the  conditions 
God  hath  been  pleased  to  reveal  and  to  appoint  for  our  ob- 
servance, can  there  be  a  good  hope  of  his  favor — such  a  hope 
as  a  rational  being  should  rest  upon  for  eternity.  And  in 
pursuing  the  inquiry  into  our  individual  condition,  suggested 
by  my  text,  to  what  other  standard  than  the  gospel  must  we, 
who  are  under  its  blessed  light,  come,  to  determine  to  what 
class  of  this  world's  population  we  belong? 

"God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day,"  says  my  text. 
Let  us,  then,  inquire,  who  are  the  wicked  under  the  gospel? 

In  tlie  first  place,  and  undisputed  by  any,  all  who  live  in 
the  commission  of  known  and  wilful  sin  are  thereby  ranked 
in  the  number  of  the  wicked,  and,  therefore,  exposed  to  the 
wrath  of  God;  nor  is  there  a  possibility  of  escape  otherwise 
than  by  "repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ." 

In  the  second  place,  all  who  live  in  the  wilful  omission  of 
any  known  and  commanded  duty  do  thereby  come  under  the 
denomination  of  wicked  persons,  with  whom  God  is  continu- 
ally angry.  Under  the  circumstances  in  which  all  who  are 
favored  with  the  gospel  are  placed,  sins  of  omission  have  one 
quality  of  aggravation  which  sins  of  commission  have  not, 
and  that  is  ingratitude.  All  sin  implies  contempt  of  God's 
authority,  but  sins  of  omission  add  thereto  contempt  of  his 
loving  kindness  and  tender  mercy;  and  yet  they  give  less, 
nneasiness  to  those  who  are  guilty  of  them  than  the  other. 
Of  those  now  before  me,  there  is  not  one,  I  trust,  who  would 
not  be  truly  concerned  to  have  upon  his  soul  the  guilt  of  blood 
or  of  any  other  grievous  crime,  yet  how  perfectly  unconcerned 
are  those  same  persons,  under  the  guilt  of  delayed  repent- 
ance, of  God's  message  of  mercy  and  love  by  his  only  begot- 
ten Son  sligiited  and  made  light  of,  of  the  confession  of  Jk- 
sus  Christ  before  the  \vorld  by  a  public  profession  of  his  re- 
ligion refused,  of  the  commemoration  of  his  dj'ing  love  dis- 
regarded, with  many  others  which  might  be  named;  and  yet 
these  are  not  only  commanded  as  expressly  as  we  are  com- 
manded to  do  no  murder,  but  are  commanded  for  our  personal 
advantage  as  means  of  grace,  as  channels  of  favor  and  bless- 
ino-  from  God  of  a  special  nature,  and  as  proofs  that  we  en- 
tertain a  grateful  sense  of  the  great  love  wherewith  God  hath 


god's  anger  against  the  wicked.  4S7 

ioved  us.  Now,  mj  dear  friends,  where  must  those  be 
classed,  by  a  heart-searching  God,  who  thus  neglect  the  prime 
duties  of  redeemed  creatures;  who  are  neitlier  drawn  by  love, 
nor  driven  by  fear,  to  save  themselves  from  the  wrath  of 
God?  Belong  they  to  the  righteous,  or  to  the  wicked  witk 
whom  God  is  angry  every  day?  O  let  your  consciences  awake 
to  the  truth  of  your  condition;  listen  to  none  of  the  deceitful 
and  ruinous  excuses  with  which  the  father  of  lies  would  per- 
suade you  to  put  off  till  to-morrow  what  cannot  be  delayed 
but  at  the  risk  of  everlasting  despair;  give  no  place  to  the 
whispers  of  self  righteousness,  to  the  Pharisaic  pride  of  being 
better  than  many  others  whom  you  can  name.  For  there  is 
no  middle  or  neutral  ground  on  which  to  place  you  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  You  may  not  be  as  wicked  as 
many  others,  and  yet  wicked  enough  to  be  driven  from  God 
for  ever.  There  is  no  place  between  salvation  and  damnation 
for  good  moral  people  to  be  consigned  to.  We,  indeed,  i-ead 
of  some  who  are  said  to  be  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God. 
But  this  only  represents  their  state  as  being  relatively  more 
hopeful  than  that  of  others;  not  that  they  have  changed  their 
denomination,  by  that  surrender  of  themselves  to  God,  and 
that  observance  of  his  commands,  which  enable  him  to  lay 
aside  his  anger,  and  to  regai'd  them  with  favor  and  affection 
as  his  children.  This  is  yet  to  do,  and  the  word  of  divine 
truth  warns  us  that  we  may  be  so  near  as  to  lack  but  one 
thing,  one  single  step,  and  yet  refuse  to  take  that  one.  O 
world,  world,  world,  what  hast  thou  to  give  in  exchange  for 
the  immoi'tal  souls  which  are  brought  to  ruin  by  thy  perishing 
treasure  of  riches,  honors,  and  pleasures,  which  are  not  of  the 
Father?  O  fools  and  blind,  who  are  bewitched  with  the  sor- 
ceries of  sin,  to  forget  the  realities  of  eternity,  and  dream 
through  your  day  of  grace,  unconcerned  for  death  and  judg- 
ment— "what  will  it  profit  you  if  you  gain  the  world  and  lose 
your  own  souls?" 

Let  us,  then,  consider, 

II.  Secondly,  what  will  be  the  consequences  of  God's  an- 
ger to  those  who  continue  to  be  of  this  description. 

Now  these  will  include  a  state  of  privation  and  a  state  of 
positive  suffering. 

The  state  of  privation  will  consist  of  exclusion  from  God 


458  god's  angek  against  the  wicked. 

the  chief  good,  from  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  heaven,  and 
from  all  means  to  regain  what  is  lost.  "The  wicked  will  be 
banished  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory 
of  his  power,  with  an  everlasting  destruction."  This,  my 
brethren,  is  a  view  of  the  subject,  with  which  our  thoughts 
are  not  as  familiar  as  they  should  be;  yet  not  only  from  ex- 
press revelation,  but  from  the  very  reason  and  nature  of 
things,  it- must  be  so.  By  the  impenitent  and  unbelieving 
every  invitation  of  the  love  of  God  has  been  refused,  every 
threatening  of  the  wrath  of  God  has  been  unheeded,  every 
means  of  the  grace  of  God  has  been  neglected;  no  change  of 
heart,  no  transformation  of  character,  has  been  effected,  no 
participation  of  the  divine  nature  has  been  attained  in  the 
present  life.  There  being,  therefore,  no  point  of  union  and 
agreement,  there  can  be  no  society,  no  intercourse,  no  inter- 
change of  affection  between  God  and  tliem,  and  separation  is 
inevitable.  Now,  my  dear  hearers,  were  this  all,  were  future 
misery  confined  to  exclusion  from  God  for  ever,  it  would  in 
itself  amount  to  perdition.  An  immortal,  unchangeable  sin- 
ner, sublimed  by  his  immortality  to  the  highest  virulence  of 
sin,  wandering  forever  in  darkness  and  despair,  is  a  most 
horrible  contemplation,  and  sufficient  of  itself  to  alarm  us 
from  the  love  and  practice  of  sin,  and  to  drive  us  to  the  cross 
of  Christ  for  deliverance  from  its  power  and  guilt.  And  it 
must  and  it  will  be  thus  with  the  wicked,  for  He  who  cannot 
lie  hath  said,  "If  ye  die  in  your  sins,  where  I  am  thither  ye 
cannot  come." 

But  this  is  not  all — the  wicked  will  not  only  be  deprived 
of  the  beatific  vision  of  God,  and  of  the  bliss  which  his  pre- 
sence confers,  but  they  will  be  exposed  to  the  additional 
misery  of  positive  suffering,  of  actual  torture,  inconceivable, 
and  interminable.  This  is  set  forth  to  us  in  the  word  of  God, 
as  afi'ecting  botii  the  body  and  the  soul — the  body  exposed 
to  "everlasting  burnings,"  and  the  soul  to  the  gnawings  of 
"the  worm  that  never  dies."  These,  indeed,  are  figurative 
expressions,  but  they  are  not,  therefore,  the  less  real,  and 
figures  are,  therefore,  made  use  of,  because  we  can  only  form 
our  conceptions  of  future  sufferings,  as  well  as  of  future  en- 
joyments, by  com])arison.  Things,  therefore,  of  which  we 
can  form  some  idea,  by  experience  of  their  effects,  are  maije 


god's  anger  against  the  wicked.  489 

use  of  to  convey  to  our  apprehension,  things  of  which  we  can 
form  no  adequate  notion.  Thus  the  torment  of  actual  fire 
and  tlie  tortures  of  an  awakened  conscience  are  resorted  to, 
to  bring  our  sense  of  known  pain  to  act  upon  what  cannot  be 
described,  what  only  can  and  must  be  endured  by  "those  who 
know  not  God  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  The  use  of  figurative  language,  therefore,  is  no 
argument  against  the  positive  torments  of  the  wicked  in  a 
future  state,  but  rather  the  reverse;  and  the  resorting  to  this 
mode,  is  a  proof  of  God's  great  condescension  to  the  weakness 
of  our  faculties,  and  of  his  earnest  desire  to  save  us  from  our 
sins,  if  not  by  the  mercies  of  his  lore,  yet  by  the  terrors  of 
his  wrath.  We  know  something  of  pain  in  the  present  life, 
my  brethren,  by  the  acute  tortures  which  even  a  mortal  body 
can  sustain,  under  God's  visitations  of  chastening  correction 
for  our  good,  and  should  not  this  serve  to  give  us  some  idea 
of  the  dreadful  nature  of  those  torments  which  are  poured 
out  in  wrath,  not  in  love — to  punish,  not  to  reclaim?  My 
hearers,  what  is  it  that  omnipotence  cannot  inflict?  what  is  it 
that  an  immortal  being  cannot  endure?  what  increase  of 
misery  may  not  grow  with  eternity?  what  is  it  of  imaginable 
or  unimaginable  suffering  which  the  rejectors  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified,  do  not  deserve?  0  let  these  awful  realities 
strip  the  mask  from  sin,  and  show  it  in  all  its  horrors,  present 
and  future;  count  the  cost  at  which  its  transient  pleasures 
must  be  purchased;  and  now,  while  escape  is  possible,  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  Eeflect,  I  beseech  you,  how  short, 
to  many,  is  the  remainder  of  life — how  much  shorter  to  all  a 
sudden  death  may  make  it;  and  now,  while  it  is  called  to-day, 
turn  to  the  strong  hold,  ye  prisoners  of  hope,  to  the  mercy 
offered  you  in  the  gospel,  and  make  the  cross  of  Christ  your 
refuge  from  everlasting  burnings. 

III.  Thirdly,  let  us  consider  by  what  means  the  character 
itself  may  be  changed  and  these  consequences  escaped. 

To  any  profitable  use  and  application  of  God's  revealed 
mercy  to  a  world  of  sinners,  it  is  first  of  all  necessary  that 
we  obtain  a  just  view  of  our  actual  condition.  It  is  not 
enough  to  admit  in  terms,  as  we  have  been  taught  perhaps, 
that  we  are  sinners;  no,  my  friends,  the  condition  itself  must 
be  felt,  must  be  realized  in  all  the  extent  of  its  danger  and 


490  god'b  anger  against  the  wicked. 

destitution.  Nothing  short  of  this  can  create  the  desire  for 
relief  and  deliverance — nothing  but  the  sense  of  our  disease 
can  bring  us  to  the  physician  of  souls.  What,  then,  is  the 
sinner?  The  enemy  of  God — his  enemy  by  wicked  works — 
an  outcast  from  his  favor — the  miserable  prey  of  disease, 
death,  and  hell;  this  is  all  that  he  is  in  himself.  And  is  this 
a  desirable  condition  for  an  immortal  being,  for  one  who  can- 
not, if  he  would,  hide  from  himself  that  there  is  another  life, 
and  that  there  the  retributions  of  justice  and  the  sanctions 
of  eternity  await  him? 

But  whence  do  we  learn  that  we  are  by  nature  this  abject 
miserable  thing?  From  the  word  of  God  and  from  our  own 
hearts,  my  hearers,  deceitful  though  they  be.  Oh!  there  is  a 
voice  within  us  which  responds  to  the  truth  of  God,  and  by 
every  emotion  of  fear  and  apprehension,  at  real  or  imaginary 
danger,  proclaims  that  we  are  separated  from  our  God — that 
confidence  is  gone — that  love  is  extinguished  by  fear — and 
desire  by  hatred.  These  are  strong  expressions,  my  friends, 
but  they  are  the  words  of  inspiration  and  experience.  Inspi- 
ration tells  us,  that  "all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God;"  that  "there  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one;" 
that  "the  wages  of  sin  is  death;"  that  the  sinner  "knows  not 
that  he  is  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor  and  blind,  and 
naked.''  And  experience  tells  us,  that  "the  good  that  I  would 
I  do  not,  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not  that  I  do.  If,  then, 
I  do  that  which  I  would  not,  I  consent  unto  the  law  that  it 
is  good.  But  I  see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring 
against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity 
to  the  law  of  sin,  which  is  in  my  members.  Oh!  wretched 
man  that  I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death?" 

This  is  the  sinner,  in  the  truth  of  his  condition — but  it  is 
the  awakened  sinner — the  sinner  crying  out,  "what  must  I 
do  to  be  saved?"  And  thanks  be  to  God,  who  hath  provided 
deliverance  and  salvation  for  all  who  seek  it,  through  our 
LoBD  Jesus  Christ.  Hearken,  then,  and  learn  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life,  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Let  the  word  of  God, 
and  the  witness  of  your  own  hearts,  cure  your  unbelief.  "Be 
no  longer  faithless,  but  believing;"  and  learn  that  you  are  this 
poor,  undone,  wretched  thing,  called  a  sinner.     As  such,  seek 


god's  anger  against  the  wicked.  491 

unto  God  in  prayer  for  the  help  of  his  Holy  Spmrr,  that  his 
saving  convictions  may  deepen  your  penitence  unto  godly 
sorrow,  and  strengthen  you  to  cease  from  sin.  "Ask  and  ye 
shall  receive;  seek  and  ye  shall  find;  knock  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you."  Continue  in  his  word,  by  reading,  med- 
itation, and  prayer,  that  you  may  grow  in  the  knowledge  of 
divine  things,  and  "be  nourished  up  in  the  words  of  faith 
and  of  good  doctrine."  Listen  to  the  Holy  Sperit  speaking 
to  your  heart  through  the  word  of  life,  that  he  may  show 
you  "the  things  that  are  freely  given  you  of  God" — even  the 
humiliation,  passion,  and  death  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  to 
make  atonement  for  your  sins,  "that  you  might  have  life 
through  his  name."  Dwell  on  this  "exceeding  great  love  of 
God  our  Saviour,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly,  through 
Jesus  Chbist  our  Saviour,"  till  your  heart  warms  under  the 
contemplation,  and  you  learn  to  "love  him  who  hath  first 
loved  you,"  and  loving,  to  confess  him  before  men  as  your 
Saviour  and  your  God.  Pray  for  the  renewing,  sanctifying 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  constancy  and  fervor,  and 
strive  to  be  what  you  pray  for.  Watch  continually  against 
sin,  mortifying  the  sinful  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind. 
Look  for  the  evidences  of  your  acceptance  in  the  Beloved  in 
increased  longings  after  God,  increased  delight  in  his  service, 
diminished  power  of  temptation,  and  victory  over  sin.  Tliese 
shall  speak  a  language  to  your  heart  which  cannot  deceive, 
for  they  are  the  fruits  of  the  blessed  Spmrr  of  promise  dwell- 
ing in  you,  and  working  in  you  "both  to  will  and  to  do." 
Thus  shall  you  possess  the  witness  in  yourself,  and  find  joy 
and  peace  in  believing,  and  thus  shall  the  transforming  power 
of  divine  grace  separate  you  from  the  world,  enrol  you  in 
the  family  of  God,  and  "keep  you  by  his  mighty  power, 
through  faith,  unto  salvation."  To  the  believer  the  wrath 
due  to  sin  is  quenched  in  the  blood  of  Christ;  the  fear  that 
hath  torment  gives  place  to  that  perfect  love  which  casteth 
out  fear;  and  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  adorn  the  life  and  make  happy  the  death  of  him,  who, 
by  hearty  repentance  and  true  faith,  has  found  peace  with 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

"God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day;"  yet,  to  the 
eternal  praise  of  his  abounding  love,  he  hath  provided  for 


492  god'b  anger  against  the  wicked. 

these  very  wicked,  that  they  may  turn  from  their  wickedness 
and  be  forgiven,  and  made  heirs  of  everlasting  hfe.  This 
message  of  salvation  is  sent  to  each  one  of  us,  my  hearers. 
Mercy  and  forgiveness  are  freely  offered  to  us  all  on  the 
terms  of  the  gospel.  Shall  we,  then,  believe  God,  obey  and 
live;  or  go  down  to  death  loaded  with  the  heinous  guilt  of 
having  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  against  our  own  souls,  of 
having  put  away  from  us  the  means  of  grace,  the  hope  of 
mercy  and  eternal  life,  purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ? 
This  is  the  solemn  inquiry  that  meets  you  this  day,  and  which 
this  day  is  given  you  to  answer;  another  may  not  be  yours. 
Meet  it,  then,  with  the  seriousness  it  deserves,  and  may  gi'ace 
be  given  you  to  choose  that  good  part  which  shall  not  be 
taken  from  you. 


'^. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


THF.  J.r 


•^^■■^/T 


JSXL 


Ravens croft  ^ 


5937       Works  of  the 
R19A1     right  revorfind 
v.l 


RIKOFRV 


J'jL  1.  "  1949 


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